I heard from an old friend that the lab is staying home, and everyone gets an email with their employment status in the morning.

I don't think they'd mind me sharing. How does this compare to other companies?

> Take low paying government job for job security.

> Low paying government job is not secure.

JPL employees work for Caltech (which is awarded government contracts to build and operate space probes) so maybe a better analogy is a job at a traditional aerospace company like Boeing or Northrop Grumman. When the contracts can’t cover payroll, they have to lay people off.