Fermilab to cut 200 jobs, staff forced to take unpaid days off

Physics Today : Fermilab Director Pier Oddone informed the laboratory’s staff Thursday the implications of the proposed FY08 federal budget on the facility. Congress changed Fermilab’s proposed budget from $372 million to $320 million--a cut of $52 million. The budget cuts are because of $22 billion in savings Congress had to make in order for the President not to veto the budget. All construction funding for two projects closely associated with Fermilab, the NOVA neutrino experiment and the fusion project ITER were removed from the federal budget. Funding for the International Linear Collider was reduced from $60 million to $15 million, most of which Fermilab had already spent as the US fiscal year began October 2007.In response Oddone told staff to expect 200 job cuts, 10 percent of the workforce, and from February, staff will have to take two unpaid days off per month.In a video released on the laboratory’s web site Oddone said “I have not had to deal with a problem of this magnitude in my career,” he said, “and Fermilab has not had to face a problem like this in its history.” Related links Pier Oddone’s Video statement to Fermilab Fermilab Today’s page on the budget cuts