Idaho National Laboratory to lay off workers

An Idaho National Laboratory contractor has notified employees that it has started what it calls an involuntary separation program as it tries to cut costs in the wake of federal budget cuts.

The Post Register Reports in a story on May 23 that Battelle Energy Alliance officials told workers in Safeguards and Security that the decision follows a voluntary separation that saw 13 workers leave.

Battelle officials said the cuts are needed as part of the $85 billion in across-the-board federal budget cuts that went into effect earlier this year. The cuts in security staff were announced in March as a result of a $6.7 million rollback in the fiscal 2013 budget for lab safeguards.

Battelle also said it is looking for workers at the Advanced Test Reactor Complex who want to volunteer to leave their jobs. Other options for the company to save money include moving to reduced work weeks, furloughs and curtailment.

Human Resources Director Mark Holubar said the cuts won’t affect work at the Advanced Test Reactor, commonly referred to as ATR.

“We will still continue to do work at ATR,” he said. “It’s really going to be a matter of some schedule changes based on the work moving through there.”

In December, Battelle announced it had started efforts to eliminate 300 jobs and could eventually eliminate 450 jobs. Officials said 223 employees have left, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

“This is always a tough time for us when you’re talking about trying to figure out how to align the costs with what we have to do,” Holubar said. “We understand the impact.”