Science & Nature
Staff Shakeup at Fermilab and Argonne as Buyouts Follow Budgeted Funding Drop, Federal Research Shift
Argonne National Laboratory is pictured in a file image. (Credit: Argonne National Laboratory)
Employees at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the Argonne National Laboratory have been offered a voluntary separation agreement over the past two weeks, following reductions in budgeted funding and changes in research priorities from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The buyout programs at two of the Chicago area’s pre-eminent scientific research facilities come at an uncertain time for research institutions and universities across the country.
The proposed budget for the DOE Office of Science, which oversees many of the national laboratories and provides support to research across the country, was cut about 14% for fiscal year 2026.
While the pending reduction could impact the more than 2,000 staff members at the high-energy particle physics laboratory, Fermilab described the proposition as a proactive path forward.
An email sent to staff by Fermilab Interim Director Young-Kee Kim last Tuesday said the changes will align staffing with DOE and national interests like artificial intelligence, machine learning and quantum science.
Evolving Research Priorities
Budget request documents from DOE identify new priorities, including strategic investments in nuclear energy, as well as a focus on AI to improve efficiency and innovation.
The buyout will enable operational updates and infrastructure modernization as well as support strategic hiring in emerging research areas, according to the Fermilab email.
A spokesperson confirmed Argonne, located in Lemont, wanted a maximum of 60 to accept the offer out of 3,836 total laboratory employees. Fermilab leadership did not confirm the number of people who could accept the offer, but sources and Fermi-associated message board posts estimated it was capped at around 200 employees.
Fermilab employees were invited to an all-hands meeting where the separation offer was discussed Sep. 3, followed by a town hall in Batavia.
Employees who accept the offer will receive severance pay based on years of service, Fermilab confirmed.
While both local national labs under the Office of Science advance fundamental knowledge, there are unique differences in each institution that will influence how they will approach new research and staffing focuses.
A lab spokesperson said UChicago Argonne, which manages the laboratory at Argonne, is making the offer in certain operational areas to position the laboratory to adapt successfully to evolving research priorities, enhance investment in infrastructure, and sustain its science and technology mission well into the future.
Argonne employees were contacted with the offer in August, a spokesperson said.
A Fermilab spokesperson, when asked about layoffs if a reduction target was not reached, said, “That is not planned at this time.”
FermiForward is the organization that manages Fermilab.
Fermilab denied the buyout offer was connected to the budget reduction. FermiForward, Argonne and the Office of Science did not answer specific questions from WTTW News about whether these moves were made in anticipation of pending DOE budget cuts.
A spokesperson said the Office of Science cannot comment on the budget because it hasn’t been finalized.
‘Do We Need to be a Little Bit More Efficient Running the Labs?’
The national laboratories drive discoveries that strengthen national security, fuel economic competitiveness and improve quality of life. From observing the top quark and expanding the periodic table to developing next-generation energy, the labs provide expertise and unique facilities.
Labs have already dealt this year with some research funds being suspended, leading to projects and associated work stopping.
At a U.S. Senate committee hearing in June, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said at the time individual lab budgets had not been finalized, and that he aimed to grow and not shrink science. But he said cuts were going to happen.
“Do we need to be a little wiser and get the political science, not the real science, out of labs?” Wright said. “Do we need to be a little bit more efficient running the labs? We do.”
During the hearing, Wright said he was open to increasing lab budgets in key areas beyond what the current proposal outlines.
The proposed budget appropriation for Fermilab dropped $71.7 million for fiscal year 2026, down more than 9.3% from the previous year. Argonne would lose about $166 million, more than 18.7% of the total.
The fiscal year 2026 budget proposes funding cuts for high-energy physics research in Illinois by about 12.7% in addition to providing less money for related construction projects, records show.
The budget identifies substantial cuts for Argonne from the Office of Science, as well as for nuclear nonproliferation, energy efficiency/renewable energy, and fossil energy/carbon management.
Full-time staff levels in fiscal year 2025 were the lowest at Fermilab since 2022, though staffing was up from the pandemic period and before.
Fermilab laid off about 2.5% of its workforce in November on the heels of a “limited operations period” months earlier as part of an effort to close a budget shortfall.
Contact Jared Rutecki: @JaredRutecki | [email protected]
