NATIONWIDE — Blue Origin has laid off about 10% of its employees on Thursday morning, according to an email from company CEO Dave Limp that was obtained by Spectrum News.
What You Need To Know
- At least 1,100 employees were laid off
“As I mentioned, we have made the tough decision to reduce our workforce by about 10%. The impact this has is not lost on any of us—we are saying goodbye to our friends and colleagues who have helped us build Blue into what it is today,” Limp stated in the email, which was sent after the morning meeting when the news of the layoffs were first given.
At least 1,100 employees were laid off.
The reasons for the layoffs were that Blue Origin grew and hired fast over the years, and the company lost its focus, according to Limp, who has been the CEO of the Washington-state based company since 2023.
“Our primary focus in 2025 and beyond is to scale our manufacturing output and launch cadence with speed, decisiveness, and efficiency for our customers. We grew and hired incredibly fast in the last few years, and with that growth came more bureaucracy and less focus than we needed. It also became clear that the makeup of our organization must change to ensure our roles are best aligned with executing these priorities. Sadly, this resulted in eliminating some positions in engineering, R&D, and program/project management and thinning out our layers of management,” Limp stated in the email obtained by Spectrum News’ Anthony Leone.
He continued by saying that those impacted by the layoffs were notified by email at 10:30 a.m. ET, Thursday.
The email had support information, such as severance packages, COBRA coverage and career support services.
He closed the email by saying he is optimistic about the company’s mission and will continue to invest and hire more positions and he thanked the employees who were laid off for their hard work and service.
Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos, has been trying to make headway in the rocket-business game with its New Shepard rocket, which launches experiments and customers who want to break the Kármán line to become astronauts.
Just recently, the Washington-state based company successfully launched the New Glenn rocket for the first time in January, but it’s first-stage booster failed to land on the company’s cargo ship.
This resulted in the rocket being grounded pending an FAA investigation.
Blue Origin has facilities in Florida, such as Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, which is nine miles away from its rocket factory at Exploration Park that is near the Kennedy Space Center.
The news of the layoffs comes off the heels of Boeing, where earlier this week it announced potential cuts of about 400 employees who were working on NASA’s Artemis moon rocket.
Spectrum News did reach out to Blue Origin for comment and is waiting for a reply.
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