More than 100 National Renewable Energy Lab employees laid off in Colorado, elsewhere

The federal government has laid off 114 employees at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Colorado lab, as well as remote employees, an agency spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday.

The layoffs affected staff at the lab's Golden campus, as well as remote employees, not all of whom live in Colorado. The impacted workers came from both research and operations departments.

An NREL spokesperson said in a statement that the organization continues to "navigate a complex financial and operational landscape shaped by the issuance of stop work orders from federal agencies, new federal directives, and budgetary shifts."

NREL works on research and development of renewable energy, like solar and wind energy, and related technologies and research. Headquartered in Golden, it also has campuses in Arvada, Alaska, and an office in Washington, D.C., and employs approximately 3,000 people.

Tuesday's layoffs are the latest in a string of mass layoffs and firings across the federal government under the second Trump administration by billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. While the exact number of civilian government employees laid off this year isn't clear, the Center on Budget and Public Priorities has reported that 130,000 have been laid off or accepted buyouts, and the Trump administration plans to eliminate an additional 150,000 government jobs.

"My question is whether this is just kind of the tip of the iceberg, the first in several rounds of layoffs," said Andrew Eames. 

Eames is one of the 114 NREL workers who was laid off on Monday. He told CBS Colorado he was among a handful of people working for the laboratory's communications department.

"I was locked out of my NREL accounts, so I couldn't do any work," he said. "I found out a little later through a call to HR."

He says working for NREL was a dream role, and after five years of trying to work for them, he finally got hired in July 2024. 

"It just lines up perfectly with my passion. I care a lot about the environment and climate change," said Eames. "The work we're doing was important. It mattered. We were making the world a better place."

This, however, is not the first time this year his family was struck with a blow amid ongoing federal budget cuts. 

"My wife lost her job as USAID. She was not directly working for the agency but with a contractor. (We) went from two incomes to no incomes (in) just a few months," said Eames. "We were getting ready to buy a house."

The federal government employs about 2.3 million people, about 57,000 of whom reside in Colorado, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

Eames worries more layoffs could be on the horizon for federal workers, which raises concerns as to what will happen to people like him now re-entering the job market. 

"I'm worried about the competition I'm entering, the job market and the job search. I'm thinking about all the other people who are doing the same thing because of the current administration's approach," he said. "I'm trying to remain optimistic, but it's difficult."

Layoffs of federal workers in Colorado have so far impacted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Forest Service, and the National Park Service.