Budget Cuts May Cost USGS Jobs

From the San Francisco Examiner:

A federal shift in funding for the U.S. Geological Survey will likely mean reduced jobs in the western region.

The USGS will shift its focus in 2007 toward geologic hazards, particularly in coastal regions, and away from the minerals research program. Proposed cuts of $22.9 million could translate into employee buyouts and early retirements for as many as 361 full-time workers, many in the agency’s mineral resources program, according to the Federal Times.

“A significant number of people in the minerals program are in the western region,” Cole said. “It would likely affect operations out here, but to what degree, I don’t know.”

The team studies the quality, quantity and availability of mineral resources in the United States.

Already, the USGS has offered similar buyouts to employees in the past two years, particularly in the Menlo Park mapmaking division. Paper-based cartography is being phased out as the USGS mapping system goes digital.

But so far, no local employees have taken the buyouts, and there are no plans to institute layoffs, according to Cole.

The USGS 2007 budget is projected to be $944.8 million

See also:
USGS To Subcontract New Topographic Maps
Outsourcing USGS
USGS Outsourcing Plans On Hold