The National Science Foundation fired nearly 170 workers on Zoom Call Tuesday morning as part of the Trump administration’s agenda to reduce federal workforce. Dismissed workers who were told that employment would end at 5pm today included workers still on probation, but workers who have already completed a one-year probationary period will also be on permanent work. He became a worker who was considered permanent and a permanent worker. employee.
But earlier this month, these permanent workers were suddenly told by the NSF that they should have a one-year probation period and that they are not safe to be fired.
The Trump administration has ordered federal agencies to fire almost all probation employees who have not yet achieved permanent status, thereby providing protection for civil servants. However, NSF workers who believed they were safe suddenly realized today that they were not at work.
The National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency that provides grants to universities and other institutions to support science and engineering research. Foundation grants account for about a quarter of all federal support to academic institutions for research. NSF grants were suspended in late January due to a funding freeze, but the agency Resumed grants Following a court order earlier this month.
Many of those who finished Tuesday work as program managers and experts who make funding decisions by linking research proposals with the right programs and matching those proposals with the most qualified reviewers.
“It’s hard to imagine this being achieved successfully with automated algorithms,” the fired program manager told Wired. “With few programme personnel managing the evaluation process, overwhelming concerns identify and support transformative but unconventional projects that could become a game-changer in terms of advancing scientific advances in the US. That’s what makes it difficult to do.”
All sources spoken on wired requested anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Sources say 168 workers received an email this morning at 9:02am, requesting a “meeting with NSF probation employees” on a 10am zoom call. did. However, many workers did not receive the zoom link and missed the start of the call. At the meeting, they were told that access to their network was shut down at 1pm and that they had to clean up desks until 5pm, but workers were forced to do what they couldn’t clear. We were told that accommodation would be made to get into by 5pm.
This morning’s termination lawsuit also included all permanent employees designated as “will” workers. One termination worker tells Wired that he is a permanent federal employee working on a part-time basis on an annual contract renewed in September.
NSF executives told workers during the meeting. When asked if a favorable employee had just been fired for fairness in probation workers, NSF management replied that the decision was “partly due to fairness, but not just that.” .
