NOAA Ann Arbor employees among 20% cut from research station in federal layoff blitz

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (FOX 2) -
 

Hundreds of employees with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were laid off Thursday as part of sweeping cuts throughout the federal government.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, is aiming to trim $2 trillion in federal spending. The layoffs are hitting close to home — NOAA's Ann Arbor Research Lab lost around 20 percent of its workforce.

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"Everyone was devastated. People were hugging and crying, it was an extremely emotional and sad end to the day," said Brie Farina.

Farina is one of the hundreds of employees laid off at the national organization Thursday. NOAA provides free forecasts, severe weather alerts and provides emergency information to the public.

"It was really impersonal," Farina said. "It was from the DC level, so no one in my building, no one from Michigan. It was bluntly said: 'You’re terminated from your job.'

That email was aimed at around 880 employees nationwide.

"It's a slash-and-burn," said Nicole Rice, a former employee of NOAA. "And they are purposefully breaking the system so that we can't recover from it. The last three weeks have been torture. This has been hanging over us, we've been threatened, we've known this was coming. And then they said, maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day."

Rice, who worked for NOAA for 10 years, and Farina are two of eight employees let go at Ann Arbor’s research station — that’s about 20% of its staff — and its entire communication department was laid off.

The organization won't provide updates on social media anymore.

"We do these jobs because we want to be public servants," Farina said. "We don’t go into the federal government to get rich by any means. Our livelihoods are ripped out from under us and it’s just so scary."

Farina says one of the Ann Arbor Research Station’s most important services is monitoring and providing forecasts for harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes that could make the drinking water unsafe.

DOGE’s first round of layoffs targeted probationary employees — but she says that doesn’t mean their work wasn’t important.

Related: Lawmakers, labor leaders rally in protest over Veterans Affairs job losses in Detroit

"I was a contractor for five years," Farina said. "So I was already there working with the exact same team since 2019. And then, since last June, they brought me to the federal side which was supposed to be a way more secure job.

"I was really proud of that accomplishment. But because of that move I was easier to fire because I was still in my 'probationary period.'"

FOX 2: "What’s next for you?"

"It’s a complete unknown right now," Farina said.

She says if you want to help, call your local Congress representative.