Battelle Energy Alliance, the management contractor for the Idaho National Laboratory, confirmed Tuesday it is offering a voluntary severance package for long-term employees until Sept. 4.
“We now have an opportunity that makes it possible for us to offer a self-select voluntary separation program and are able to accept up to 99 applications,” INL Director Mark Peters said in a Thursday email to employees. The contractor has about 4,300 employees at the lab, which works across the Energy Department mission areas of energy, national security, science, and environment.
Even if the Battelle does not meet the target, there will be no forced layoffs, Peters said. The director said there was no dire need to shrink the workforce: “Instead, this allows for a realignment of staff capabilities with DOE mission priorities.”
The process enables employees to volunteer to retire or end their tenure at INL, Peters said.
Employees whose applications are accepted will get a severance package with a one-time payment based on years of service, said Battelle Energy Alliance spokeswoman Sarah Neumann. The severance effort has no effect on the Idaho Cleanup Project, run by Fluor Idaho, or its employees, she noted in an email.
This is the first company’s workforce restructuring since 2014, Neumann said.
Battelle Energy Alliance is a wholly owned subsidiary of Battelle that has managed the lab since November 2004. Its integrated subcontractors are BWXT, AECOM, and the Electric Power Research Institute. The Battelle team recently finalized a $5 billion deal to stay on as management contractor at INL through September 2024.
