This might be funny if it weren't for the fact that these are tax dollars and real people's livelihood involved.

A politically connected, taxpayer-funded solar firm announced a massive round of furloughs on Friday, just weeks after its chairman told Congress his company was “financially strong.”

First Solar, an Arizona-based solar panel manufacturer that received more than $3 billion in federal loan guarantees under President Obama, has furloughed half of the 240-person workforce at its Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One (AVSR1) power plant near Los Angeles.

Green Tech Media reports that the move is “a severe blow to an already jobs-poor Los Angeles-adjacent community where studies found as many as one in three homeowners behind and/or underwater with their mortgages.”

The announcement comes two weeks after First Solar chairman Michael Ahearn told members of the House Oversight committee that the company “remains financially strong and well positioned to execute through the current market environment.”

Speaking as someone who once took furlough days, I can assure you that they're not a sign that the business is doing good and your job is safe.