It would not be fair to put them through this process to reach projections that are not hard and fast.”

	Personnel Reductions in Recent Years

Through fiscal year 1995, NASA reduced its previously planned fiscal year 2000 FTE goal by over 3,000 FTEs, and it was planning to increase the aggregate reduction to about 4,000 FTEs in 1996. Future Personnel Reductions May Require Involuntary Separations

As previously noted, buyouts accounted for about two-thirds of the employees leaving NASA in fiscal years 1994 and 1995. One of NASA’s major concerns is ensuring a proper skill mix throughout the agency. Currently, NASA’s strategy to deal with this concern is to rely on normal attrition, limited hiring focused on the most critical areas, and redeploying employees. Unknown Personnel Impacts of Management and Operational Changes

NASA’s efforts to meet its planned FTE level while avoiding involuntary separations will be affected by the results of several management and operational changes, including the shifting of program management from headquarters to field centers and the use of a single prime contractor for managing the space shuttle at Kennedy Space Center. Further Efforts to Establish Space Science Institutes Discontinued

During the course of the ZBR, the concept of institutes was identified as a potentially beneficial approach to maintain or improve the quality of national science in the face of organizational streamlining. Without such legislation, NASA officials believe that the number of employees voluntarily leaving NASA would likely be negligible. Comments From the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The first copy of each GAO report and testimony is free.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) efforts to downsize its staff.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) NASA has reduced its fiscal year (FY) 2000 full-time equivalent (FTE) goal by more than 3,000 personnel; (2) NASA has provided eligible employees with voluntary separation incentive payments in exchange for their voluntary retirement or resignation; (3) two-thirds of the employees that left NASA in 1994 and 1995 took buyouts; (4) NASA will not be able to reduce its personnel levels by FY 2000 without invoking involuntarily separation measures; (5) NASA is relying on normal attrition, limited hiring, and redeployment to ensure a proper mix of skills throughout the agency; (6) NASA is shifting its program management control from headquarters to field centers and is using a single prime contractor to manage its space shuttle program at Kennedy Space Center; and (7) NASA would like to develop space science institutes to improve the quality of its science programs, but these efforts have been largely abandoned due to concerns regarding the transfer of NASA employees to institute positions.