Jeff Bezos’-backed rocket company, Blue Origin, announced plans to lay off about 10% of its workforce, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Approximately 1,400 of Blue Origin’s nearly 14,000 employees are being cut, primarily affecting workers in Florida, Texas and Washington, the outlet reported. The layoffs come as the company ramps up production of its massive New Glenn rocket, which successfully launched for the first time last month.
“When you look at the foundation of the company and what we need to get to over the next three to five years, we just came to the painful conclusion that we aren’t set up for the kind of success that we really wanted to have,” Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp told employees in an all-hands meeting.
Limp explained that the decision to cut staff would enable Blue Origin to ramp up New Glenn production and boost its launch frequency—key objectives in order for the company to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its Falcon 9 rocket.
