Report: Argonne Reduces Workforce by 48

After surviving this winter, Argonne National Laboratory announced Friday that it will still have to cut 48 employees, according to a Crain’s Chicago Business report. 

The employees worked in the Office of the Director and operations and include 27 employees who took a buyout in early 2011, the report said. 

In February, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-IL, lambasted the House of Representatives about  that would have forced Argonne to lay off about one-third of its 3,000 employees. The cuts, which would have halted research at several of Argonne’s labs, would have devastated U.S. innovation, Durbin said. 

The federal budget approved in April left Argonne’s funding by promising $4.9 billion to the Office of Science this fiscal year. 

In a memo obtained by Crain’s on Friday, however, the Darien-area lab indicated the budget debate prompted a review of its spending practices. 

“[The] ongoing national debate about America’s investment in scientific research has made us keenly aware of the need to achieve our mission more efficiently and to find ways to reduce spending wherever possible,” the memo said. 

Fermilab in Batavia has also announced cuts that will reduce its staff by about 5 percent, the report said.

For more on this story, read Crain's full report.