Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Cuts 10 of Workforce, CEO Dave Limp Cites ‘Rocket Launch’ Priorities (Image Source: L-X, R-Canva)
New Delhi: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ owned rocket company ‘Blue Origin’ is reportedly laying off 1,400 employees, making up about 10% of its workforce, BBC reported. Blue Origin’s CEO Dave Limp said in a memo to employees that the layoffs are part of a strategy to reduce management positions and allocate resources towards increasing rocket launches, the report stated. Jeff Bezos handed over the position of the CEO to Limp in 2023.
In Limp’s mail to the staff, he mentioned that it was “clear that the makeup of our organisation must change” to meet its latest priorities. “Our primary focus in 2025 and beyond is to scale our manufacturing output and launch cadence with speed, decisiveness, and efficiency for our customers,” he added, citing the BBC report.
The layoff in the company will not only take place in the management positions, but it will also be cutting jobs in research and development (R&D) as well as engineering.
Blue Origin, launched in 2000, has been a significant participant in the private space competition. However, it has yet to compete with competitors like Elon Musk‘s SpaceX. As per the BBC report, Elon Musk’s SpaceX outperformed Blue Origin. However, in a major milestone for the company, Blue Origin has completed its first test flight of its New Glenn rocket. The New Glenn rocket is a heavy-lift orbital launch vehicle designed to transport satellites and cargo to space. This project will be competing with Elon Musk’s Starlink service.
