Report: SpaceX to Lay Off 600 Workers

SpaceX will lay off 600 employees, about 10% of its 6,000 workers, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

The company responded to Times questions with a statement: “To continue delivering for our customers and to succeed in developing interplanetary spacecraft and a global space-based Internet, SpaceX must become a leaner company. Either of these developments, even when attempted separately, have bankrupted other organizations. This means we must part ways with some talented and hardworking members of our team.”

Hawthorne-based SpaceX is offering a minimum of eight weeks’ pay and other benefits, including assistance with career coaching, resume help and job searches, the report said, citing an email sent Friday to employees by SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell.

Shotwell told CNBC in May that the company is profitable and has had “many years” of profitability. SpaceX recently raised about $273 million of a $500 million equity round of funding, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SpaceX had it’s busiest year on record in 2018, executing 21 satellite launches. That was up from 18 the year before.

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