Kim Zetter
The National Science Foundation fired nearly 170 workers this morning in Zoom call. This included workers who had already cleared their one-year probationary period only to have it changed to two years earlier this month, putting them in line for termination. It also included at-will permanent workers -- the latter were not among those designated for firing by the Trump administration; instead NSF decided on its own to eliminate them. Here's my story:
https://www.wired.com/story/national-science-foundation-february-2025-firings/
National Science Foundation Fires 168 Workers as Federal Purge Continues

Firings at the NSF included permanent employees who had already completed their one-year probationary period, as well as at-will workers.

WIRED
Feb 18, 2025 at 6:38pmWeb
Show threadT2RFeb 18, 2025
@kimzetter Traitors, they need to bolster science not kneecap it.
Show threadEven RouaultFeb 18, 2025
@grassgis How is this whole mess affecting your NSF grant ?
Show threadwbftwFeb 18, 2025
@kimzetter I must admit, I didn't expect to find sleazy management practices at NSF. Out of curiosity, are changes to the length of the probationary period after the contract has been signed even legal? Doesn't that open the employer to legal trouble? Use of at-will contracts takes the cake though.
Show threadKim ZetterFeb 18, 2025
@wbftw My understanding is that this probably won't stand up legally, but in the meantime workers will waste a lot of time fighting it and the programs they were working in may get shut down so that even if they win a legal battle there may not be a job for them to return to
Show threadwbftwFeb 18, 2025
@kimzetter You probably are right and it's definitely a major suck for the people affected. Might open the administration to unlawful termination lawsuites though, which might get "interesting" if nothing is there at that point (are there any penalties for the employer in such a case?).
Show threadsandywb14Feb 18, 2025
@kimzetter NSFneeds a backbone.
Show threadBrad RosenheimFeb 18, 2025
@kimzetter So much collaboration from HR and higher ups at NSF with the Nazis! Disgusting. When I was there the last week of January, only one of the program directors was speaking his mind. All the rest had been programmed.
Show threadAnne OminousFeb 18, 2025

@Brad_Rosenheim @kimzetter

people love to think of themselves as 'independent thinkers' but they are usually really quite indoctrinated and conditioned to obey any type of order or authority. just immediately and preemptively licking the boot.

(thinking about it now, it makes a lot of sense why i made so many of my colleagues bristle in academia. i generally do not respect authority.)

Show threadJonathan Z SimonFeb 19, 2025
@kimzetter Thank you Kim for this report, which includes a lot more detail than other articles.
Show threadJonathan Z SimonFeb 19, 2025
@kimzetter The NSF Staff Directory web page is down, giving the error “Staff Directory Unavailable We regret the inconvenience“
https://www.nsf.gov/staff
Show threadEloPupFeb 19, 2025
@jzsimon @kimzetter
„We regret the inconvenience“. Sure! Lmao 🤣