Hampton, Va., NASA Base's Staffing Changes to Reflect Organization's New Focus
Posted on: Thursday, 8 July 2004, 06:00 CDT
Jul. 8--HAMPTON, Va. -- Top officials at NASA Langley Research Center are shaking up the organization, asking more than 100 supervisors and top managers to compete for management jobs under a new structure.
The aim is to reduce the center's overhead by 20 percent and address criticism from employees that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is adverse to change. There will be fewer supervisory positions under the new structure and, in some cases, Langley candidates will be competing against colleagues from the other nine NASA field centers for the jobs.
Director Roy Bridges said the changes were necessary for Langley to fit in with the "one-NASA" theme.
"We think it can make us very competitive," Bridges said. "We haven't had competition here."
Supervisory titles at Langley do not carry more pay, he said, and so worker salaries will not be affected if some lose their titles.
Deputy Director Lesa B. Roe, said no jobs will be lost, but reducing the number of supervisory positions will save money in the long term. She said the center, which employs about 2,200 civil servants, may offer early retirement packages to those who cannot be reassigned. The structure will fully be in place by December, she said.
It has been a period of change for NASA since the shuttle tragedy in February 2003 and President Bush's call in January to return to the moon and possibly reach Mars.
Langley, which has historically had a strong aeronautics program, is looking to fit in with this new mission. It was forced to discontinue some programs, including the orbital space plane and next-generation space shuttle, representing almost a quarter of its $770 million annual budget. However, it recently received $25 million for space-related research, Bridges said.
To compete for NASA dollars and make up for those lost, Langley officials created an Incubator Institute under the new structure which will consolidate its contracting and oversee a $20 million investment account.
Langley will also be shedding 15 of its oldest and more costly buildings over the next two years, representing about 6 percent of its real estate.
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