National Institute of Standards and Technology Plans Layoffs (washingtonpost.com)

National Institute of Standards and Technology Plans Layoffs (washingtonpost.com):

"About 2,800 employees work for NIST at its headquarters in Gaithersburg and about 400 at its lab in Boulder. The agency is known for employing world-class scientists, engineers and technical experts who focus on measurement, standards and technology. Two years ago, Congress directed the agency to review building failures, and NIST has teams investigating the destruction of the World Trade Center in the 2001 terrorist attacks and the fire last year that destroyed a Rhode Island nightclub and killed 100 patrons.
NIST received $359.1 million for its labs and operations in fiscal 2003, but received $338.6 million for this fiscal year. The 2004 appropriation was about $49 million below the president's request, according to the House Science Committee. "