Sequestration will lead to staff reductions at Aerospace Testing Alliance Published March 25, 2013 By 250313 ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn -- We've known for weeks that sequestration would impact the Air Force civilian workforce because of a mandatory furlough one day a week without pay for six months. That equals to 20 percent of a civilian's pay and a serious financial impact of government-imposed sequestration. Up until this past week the impact of sequestration was not clear for the employees of Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) and their teammate subcontractors. ATA is the primary contractor at Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) and employs 1,809 people. "This past week ATA reached an agreement with the AEDC Air Force to reduce the workforce by up to 128 personnel," said ATA's General Manager, Steve Pearson. "Reduction-in-force two-week notices will be issued on April 5th . "The effects of sequestration were minimized by first looking at all non-labor expenditures," said Pearson. "In addition, the VERO (Volunteer Early Retirement Offer) and VRIF (Voluntary Reduction-in-Force) will help reduce the actual number of employees being released." Pearson has cautioned that a lot can change over the next few weeks due to new government regulations concerning the federal budget and budget sequestration. Prior to sequestration, Fiscal Year 2013 was shaping up to be one of the busiest testing periods at AEDC in many years. In fact, ATA was actually hiring engineers and craftsmen up until about two months ago when they issued a hiring freeze because of concerns about sequestration. All non-mission essential hiring, travel and purchasing were frozen because of the expectation of tough times ahead. For continued updates about sequestration and its impact on AEDC, check the web at www.arnold.af.mil/sequestration .