U.S. Space Workforce

NASA Civil Servant Workforce


2019 TSRQ1 – Workforce: U.S. Space Workforce

The global space industry employs hundreds of thousands of highly-skilled individuals to design, produce, and operate cutting-edge technology. This workforce, in turn, contributes to thriving local economies, with clusters of innovative companies and service support industries. Understanding trends . . .

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Geographical Distribution

NASA has many facilities and operations in many states, and NASA contractor jobs are high-skill, high-salary positions. When these jobs are lost, communities often have difficulty replacing them, and the employees encounter difficulty in finding similar positions in the local area. In order to keep the skilled technical workforce associated with the shuttle program from relocating elsewhere, many local communities affected by NASA layoffs have invested in job-transition assistance and worker retraining programs in alternative skill sets.

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2015 – NASA Workforce – Snapshot

At the start of FY 2016, NASA’s workforce was made up of 17,316 individuals. This is a decrease of 415 employees, or 2.3%, compared to the start of FY 2015. Since reaching a high in FY 2011, NASA has shed 1,428 employees, 7.6% of its workforce.

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2014 – NASA Workforce

At the start of fiscal year (FY) 2015, NASA had ## employees. Since FY 2011, NASA’s workforce has declined by ##%, a loss of just over ## employees. This decrease coincided with the retirement of the Space Shuttle, the cancellation of the Constellation program, and decreasing budget.

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2013 – NASA Workforce

In 2012, NASA was ranked the best place to work in the federal government based on a survey of civil servants across federal agencies conducted by the non-profit Partnership for Public Service. In its annual survey of federal employees, the United States Office of Personnel Management found that NASA was a top performer across all four of their primary indices: leadership and knowledge management, results-oriented culture, talent management, and job satisfaction, and it was the highest-scoring agency in terms of job satisfaction.

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2012 – NASA Geographical Distribution

Although NASA’s workforce remained relatively stable, layoffs related to the Space Shuttle program continued. It is estimated that more than ## individuals associated with the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida lost their jobs after the last shuttle launched in July 2011, and layoffs continued into 2012.

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