ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the nation's premier nuclear weapons labs, is preparing to lay off hundreds of people in anticipation of federal budget cuts, a lab spokesman said Monday.
The laboratory may have to cut between 500 and 750 positions, said Kevin Roark, a spokesman for the northern New Mexico lab. About 12,000 people work at the lab.
The cuts are part of a restructuring plan the lab submitted to the federal government. If approved, the lab would ask employees to leave voluntarily, with severance packages based on their years of service, Roark said.
Those who volunteer to leave would likely be done working at the lab by January, he said. The lab then would reassess whether any employees would be laid off, he said.
Congress has not approved the fiscal year 2008 budget, but budgets have been flat for the past few years and the lab has been anticipating a cut, Roark said. That and an unusually low turnover rate, which typically stands at 3 percent, are driving the potential layoffs, he said.
Charles Mansfield, president of the Laboratory Retiree Group Inc., said the layoffs could have an impact throughout northern New Mexico, calling the facility "a major economic engine."
Greg Mello, executive director of the Los Alamos Study Group, an Albuquerque-based watchdog group, said layoffs wouldn't be necessary if the lab offered appropriate retirement incentives and reduced waste.
The announcement comes after another of the nation's premier nuclear weapons labs, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., announced last week that it plans to cut about 500 of its 8,000 employees because of rising costs stemming from a changeover in management and potential federal budget cuts.
Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque released its work force restructuring plan last month, which did not discuss numbers for possible layoffs at Sandia or its satellite location.
Sandia spokesman Michael Padilla said Monday the lab has made no decisions regarding layoffs.
Associated Press writers Melanie Dabovich and Susan Montoya Bryan contributed to this report.
Double Dippers
ReplyDeletePlease do the right thing and call it a career...
Now is the time. Don't talk about how you aren't doing anything wrong and how you earned it. The long and short of it is that you already have a paycheck coming...we don't.
Any double dipper still here after the mandatory layoffs start will not have my respect.
Who cares about having your respect?
ReplyDeleteWould you respect the 'double dipper' who left the lab and took your paycheck with him or her?
ReplyDeleteTo me 'double dippers' are no different than people who have university or police or military pensions and then decide to work here. They used to work for UC. Now they work for LANS.
P.S. My guess is that having your respect is not high on their list of concerns.
If the shortfall in income is $100,000,000, then getting about 750 people to leave covers the shortfall.
ReplyDeleteBut, as has been stated many times, the apparent shortfall from taxes, fee, bonuses, changes in funding, etc. appears to be %300,000,000 to $500,000,000.
This to cover this shortfall would require an additional 1500 to 3000 people to leave in order for the budget to balance.
Can any readers tell me where the missing $200,000,000 to $400,000,000 went and what funds there are for the 1500 to 3000?
Mommy!
ReplyDeleteCharles Mansfield, president of the Laboratory Retiree Group Inc., said the layoffs could have an impact throughout northern New Mexico, calling the facility "a major economic engine."
ReplyDeleteYea right...as though Mansfield and his buds give a damn about northern New Mexico. History is replete with countless examples of why this is impossible to believe.
> Greg Mello, ... said layoffs
ReplyDelete> wouldn't be necessary if the lab
> ... reduced waste
Did Greg Mello really say something so stupid?
Respect?! We don't care about no stinking respect. We need money, that's the only respect we care about!
ReplyDeleteMello is the only credible person quoted in the article. What's so stupid about reducing waste?
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing stupid about reducing waste at LANL. 7:56, on the other hand, is clearly not the brightest bulb in the chandelier.
ReplyDeleteBy "waste" he means excess management.
ReplyDeleteI expect today's Associated Press news story announcing up to 750 RIFS is what it took to pull even the most obtuse LANL staffer out his self-absorbed little fantasy world.
ReplyDeleteFirst you all cowered for seven months as Nanos went on his rampage in the summer of 2004. Then you went around muttering that "I want UC to win so that my benefits are preserved," when the contract was put up for bid. Then you calmly stuck your heads back in the sand after LANS took over, pretending that all was well. As recently as two weeks ago you all nodded politely when NNSA's Shoenbauer stood up on stage and told you of his plans to reduce LANL's size by at least 30%.
Now it's actually happening, and you basically did nothing to stop it from that point in time four years ago when Nanos and UC delivered the early warning signs of what was to come, to the very present point in time when the intent to RIF has been made official.
Not that there was much that could have been done, given that DOE and NNSA have intended to trim the weapons complex for some time now. The point is: none of you tried to stop it; in fact until yesterday most of you were pretending that nothing bad was happening.
Now will come the cries (anonymous, of course) of outrage and the threats (anonymous, of course) of lawsuits. And then the RIFS will begin. 750 initially, then perhaps another 1,500 or more before the end of FY'08. Then another 1,500.
Finally, several years from now LANL's work force will stabilize at around 4,500 employees and the focus will be on its new core missions of pit production and clean up.
Most of you basically wasted the window of opportunity you had from the summer of 2004 to the present. You could have been planning to move to other jobs elsewhere. By now you could be somewhere else doing something else, but instead you chose to ignore what was happening all around you. As a result quite a few of you are going to lose your jobs.
to 9:21,
ReplyDeleteIt is a little unfair to blame people for missing the window of opportunity. It might be better to offer help or empathy (a la the book "Amish Grace").
LANL has selected for employees who would behave this way. It has selected for them since at least the early 50's. See, for example, the books "People of the Bomb", "Nuclear Borderlands", and "Los Alamos: The First Forty Years"
Ciao
Bullshit, Eric. If people refuse to take responsibility for the their own actions, or inactions, as in this case, they can't expect someone else to do it for them.
ReplyDeleteYou can feel all sorry for them if you want (oh, and btw you can start offering them your placement services again now that they have finally realized that many of them are going to need a new job soon), but I've got no sympathy the kind of self-absorbed, obtuse people that 9:21 refers to. They chose to ignore reality, so now let them deal with the consequences. It's not like this was all that difficult to see coming.
9:21 is right. I look at the staff that is left at LANL and recognize they have no capability to change anything. The self-selection process is complete. The smart ones got out during the last 2 years. The part that really hurts is that I realize I'm just like the rest of the staff that's left here.
ReplyDeleteWe're just a bunch of turkeys serving out time at this point, hoping we'll be pardoned for one more year.
A few quotes from other articles:
ReplyDelete-----------------------------
"Domenici said now was a good time to announce possible layoff numbers. "It's bad, but it's not going to get better. We can't have all of our people sitting around waiting, worrying every day of the week. Decisions are going to have to be made, and changes are going to have to be forthcoming. And we'll have to move on to the next step," Domenici said."
-----------------------
[This is the press release from Domenici's Office, link on LANL hompage - I did not get a good felling after reading it]
"Domenici Says LANL Separation Package Necessary, Forced by Ongoing Budget Uncertainties
from the Office of Senator Pete V. Domenici
Monday, November 19, 2007
-- DOE Labs Face “Grim” Budget Outlook as FY08 Funding Resolution Sought --"
...
""Nothing about this situation is satisfying. Faced with ongoing budget uncertainties, LANL’s leadership had no choice but to reduce its workforce. I had urged DOE to accept a broader LANL incentive. It chose not to approve that, even though it would have made for a better incentive package. Nevertheless, the severance package being offered is good. Hopefully it will encourage those nearing retirement to take the package and preserve jobs for those who still have a long future at the lab,” Domenici said."
"It should come as no surprise that the budget outlook for NNSA and the labs is very grim,” Domenici said. “The bottom line is that we need to end the uncertainty facing our labs and reach a resolution so lab directors can make decisions on how best to carry out their missions."
----------------------------
"Greg Mello, executive director of the Los Alamos Study Group,... added: "You have to worry about the vulnerable here in New Mexico. We won't have to worry about scientists that have marketable skills. You have to worry about those who don't ... the technicians and construction workers."
----------------------
"the lab director made it clear they would like employees to leave voluntarily with 39-week's worth of pay in their severance package..."
[Can't even get the story correct.]
"nat people we spoke with tonight think many of the scientist will be able to find jobs elsewhere, out of state... but some expressed concern for those who are not scientists like lab technicians or admin assistants being able to find comparable jobs in the area with good benefits and good salaries. in sf ns koat action 7 news. i the jobs at los alamos are among the best in new mexico. the average lanl technician earns more than 63 thousand dollars a year -- that's twice the salary of the average new mexico income. a lot of businesses count on lanl to pay their bills -- one way or another."
"their biggest ally now, and always, has been outgoing senator pete domenici. we don't call him saint pete for nothing, we look to him to bail us out in the senate for years, the senator has kept budget cuts at bay...but now, the house of representatives is pushing hard to slash hundreds of millions from lanl's bottom line. 1:16 it should come as no surprise the outlook for nnsa and the labs is very grim 1:23 and the senator says he's ready for one last fight before leaving office. 5:21 we just gotta get this done " but even the man they call "saint pete" is bracing his followers for this latest test of their faith."
It's come to this...
ReplyDeleteMIKE: We're going to screw you hard, trash your pension, and spit in your faces.
STAFF: Mike, can we still receive a 401K LANS match while you screw us hard, trash our pension, and spit in our faces?
MIKE: Did you hear what I just said? We are going to bring you all to your knees. You have nothing but financial bankruptcy to look forward to in the future, is that clear?
STAFF: Mike, I hear you, but can we use our sick leave for cash? And what about those 60 days? We get a full 60 days, right?
MIKE: You are worthless morons? Sheeple! I piss on your mother's graves!
STAFF: OK, Mike, I think I understand, but those 60 days, they are starting from Oct 1st, is that right?
MIKE: God! I give up. Fire this worthless bunch and bring in the new crew!
STAFF: Hey, Mike, can we get unemployment payments from New Mexico when you do that? Could you find out for us?
Re: 9:21's comments.
ReplyDeleteWow, if the whole point of your comment is to spew hate all over the folks who haven't left LANL, um, why are you even here? You seem to hate LANL, LANS, the current employees, and evidently everything about the place. If so, why not click on over to a DIFFERENT blog and shine your little rays of sunshine there?
Just wondering what the point of such mean-spirited posting could be. Some folks like their work, have funding, have kids who love this town and the schools, and don't want to uproot, even with your happy encouragement.
But thanks for sharing your ulcer.
I also liked my job at LANL, 12:07, until the summer of 2004. I also liked living in Los Alamos. The difference between you and me is that I realized that nobody was going to stand up against what DOE, NNSA, Bechtel, and UC were planning to do to LANL.
ReplyDeleteShit, what am I saying? There was hardly anybody up on The Hill who even cared enough to look around themselves to see what was happening to LANL, much less with the courage to try to fight it.
So, please don't whine about how much you like your job. You didn't like it enough to fight to try preserve it. Nobody in Los Alamos did.
Well, hardly anybody. There were a few who spoke up, but they were a very small minority.
11/20/07 10:28AM said: "9:21 is right. I look at the staff that is left at LANL and recognize they have no capability to change"
ReplyDeleteSo much for the Restaurant Association's offer to train em'.
"I also liked my job at LANL, 12:07, until the summer of 2004. I also liked living in Los Alamos. The difference between you and me is that I realized that nobody was going to stand up against what DOE, NNSA, Bechtel, and UC were planning to do to LANL."
ReplyDeleteYou not only hit the bull's eye with this one, you split the pupil on half.
Title of Artice: Los Alamos Nuclear Lab Plans Layoffs
ReplyDeletePlans? I don't think so! More accurate phrasiology would be executes, stumbles upon, forced to admit to...but "plan?" No way. We don't believe in plans around these parts. We spin, we manipulate, we distort reality. Planning isn't something the best and brightest are required to do to remain in charge. Leona Hemsley used to say only the little people pay taxes. We say only the naive plan. Get it? These are pearls of wisdom I'm sharing with you now. Reality 101 for free!
--Guess Who?
LANS
Whine, whine, whine
ReplyDeleteYou'd think this announcement was a big surprise. You'd also think that Big Mikey said he's going to RIF 7,500 people, not just 750. Just because LANL is getting smaller, doesn't mean it's dead! I know, you all will whine that they are going to lay off all the "most vital" workers. Do you all really have so little faith in your own abilities to not believe you just might survive this RIF, and perhaps even the next one? Maybe if you had worked somewhere else in your life you would recognize that no one is irreplaceable no matter what they know and that life is all about change. No matter how much you whine, this is a time of change.
As for me, I intend to keep working at my job until Old Man Mikey tells me to go home. After that, I'll move on to another (and perhaps better) phase of my life with a lot more money in my pocket than if I'd worked in academia all this time.
I was told today that the DOE CFO guidance is to plan for the lower of the House and Senate mark on each line of the budget. This is the worst case scenario! DOE might update this guidance next week. Furthermore, LANL is to use its allocation made by this CR (through Dec 14) to carry us through January 10. That is we need to stretch this already thin dollar even further. The plan is to consider parts of the lab infrastructure to seriously slow down or mothball AND to identify workers that are to be considered unfunded. They would then go into a special code to fund them until........what was not said.
ReplyDeleteVery quiet room with the managers.
the headlines say LAB BRACES FOR LAYOFFS..... edit that to NEW MEXICO BRACES FOR LAYOFFS.... 1. The LAB doesn't give a shit; 2. it's the workers and communities that will need to "brace." The economic fallout from this fiasco will go well beyond the workers.
ReplyDelete"Very quiet room with the managers."
ReplyDeleteMaybe that particular room full of managers was quiet, but I imagine the boys back at the Bechtel home offices, and Uncle Boddy over in the Forestal building and his minion, D'Agostino were all patting themselves on the back and toasting a job well done. LANL has a new role in life, one that does not require 12,000 employees to fulfill.
I read a whole lot of high talking about how LANL staff are cowards, afraid to fight, etc... I have never seen anyone provide suggestions on what, exactly, they are expecting me to do. Please provide a list of specific actions you would like to see staff take. Why are you, 9:21, not doing more than posting on anonymous blog sites. Why are you not organizing this resistance that you speak of. Who are you? Where are you? What are your ideas? You seem to be all talk.
ReplyDeleteDon't you worry about it, 5:54. You probably did everything you could to head this off. I'm sure you
ReplyDelete1. Spoke out, in your own name, against Nanos' destructive shutdown of the lab in 2004, and
2. Wrote your Congressmen and Representatives, again, in your own name, advising against corporatizing LANL once DOE announced that they were putting the LANL contract up for a privatization bid, and
3. Were not wandering the halls muttering "I want UC to win so that my benefits are preserved," the whole time.
You can sleep well tonight: I'm sure you did everything in your power to help ensure that we would not get into the state we currently find ourselves.
Right?
Or are you just one of those overhead slugs with an over-developed sense of entitlement?
5:32 PM I believe it and this is the story out of DP for the last two weeks. The self select is all for show... compasion to the NNM economy. It is capped at 750 because they know those who take it will be at the upper end of severance. It will be a big tax on the budget, so the involuntary to follow will target those with as low severance as possible. All pretty obvious really.
ReplyDelete6:27, as someone else pointed out, about half the Lab has come here since the beginning of 2000. That's a good size group of relatively small severance packages to work with.
ReplyDeleteI estimate about 700 people at LANL over 55 with 20+ years. I doubt they are all going to leave. I know many people over 55 who have absolutely no intention of leaving.
Hey 6:39
ReplyDeleteScrew you. I'm "double dipping" and I'm making HUGE bucks. I love the system. It gets no better than this. Hey give me a LANS check AND give me an absolutely HUGH UC check. This is great. The only thing better is you get riffed and I don't and I continue to rake in the bucks. Me and Mikey. The only difference between us is the economy of scale. Life is good.
Is that what you want to hear?
Hey 6:27
ReplyDelete5:32 here
I didn't really want to say it that directly, but yeah the first wave seems to be limited in number on purpose from what I have heard and the next wave will be huge in numbers on the low paid and recent hires.
btw my senior management is very tight lipped on the fate of the contractors and even tighter on the limited terms.
11/20/07 5:54 PM "I read a whole lot of high talking about how LANL staff are cowards, afraid to fight, etc... I have never seen anyone provide suggestions on what, exactly, they are expecting me to do."
ReplyDeleteWhat, were you asleep in 1995? Didn't you pay attention to what those folks did back then? Probably not. You were like all the rest of the sheep...ignorant and bliss.
5:32 pm: "I was told today that the DOE CFO guidance is to plan for the lower of the House and Senate mark on each line of the budget. This is the worst case scenario!"
ReplyDeleteWell, of course it is. How would a responsible manager do it differently? If you plan for anything other than the "worst case" you guarantee more layoffs than you planned for. Is that good management?
as I said before.... the very bunch of old farts LANS wants to get rid of will NOT budge.... old, vested, pensions up the ass, houses paid for, no kids, and they still won't GO
ReplyDeleteMike is just the messenger. The message is that DOE, Congress, and the nation do not see a need for a weapons complex at the current size.
ReplyDeleteLANL is not independent of the weapons program, so there is no point to diversification.
Before you think otherwise, consider whether Dingell wants to tax Michigan to send jobs to NM? And don't pick on Dingell - the same goes for Murtha and Pennsylvania and Hobson and Ohio. Do you think they haven't noticed $120M in play money (LDRD) that came to LANL every year?
Do you think LANL is the first or last defense contractor to get cut?
To 8:27 PM...
ReplyDeleteWe are not in Russia, and this is not a communist system.
I worked my ass off here for 30 years, and I have no intention of volunteering to give up my salary, especially for a whiner like you. I'd rather contribute to a charity that supports people who really need it. If you were young, talented and flexible, you would find another job. However, given the language you use, maybe you'd fit right in with LANS management!
"What, were you asleep in 1995? Didn't you pay attention to what those folks did back then? Probably not. You were like all the rest of the sheep...ignorant and bliss."
ReplyDeleteNo, actually I was a sophomore in college in 1995. I didn't even know what LANL was. However, why don't you enlighten my feeble sheep brain and tell me what was done and how that will help our situation today.
Something better than "write a letter" please.
8:56,
ReplyDeleteIf you came to LANL after 2004, then you already failed the intelligence test.
8:27 pm: We "old farts" as you put it built the strength of this Laboratory and still sustain it, while you "young farts" continuously whine and cry about what you think you deserve and why you think we are keeping you from getting it.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a house you can't afford, and kids you can't afford, whose fault is that?? Try some self-control against reproducing when you can't support it. At least we (us old farts) know how to manage our family finances. Here's a clue: kids are not necessary.
5:32 wrote " ...from what I have heard and the next wave will be huge in numbers on the low paid and recent hires."
ReplyDeleteYes and my AD Neu reiterated that those people without funding who are on overhead will not be targeted. She has never lied to us and she will fight for actinide science. So stop spreading bad rumors as you will just upset more people!
" First you all"
ReplyDeleteDrop the Texas affectation. You spell to well to come from Texas schools.
Easy,no brainer solution.
ReplyDelete3+3.
2000 will take it at LANL,
1000 at Livermore, problem solved.
forward thinker
Pete
ReplyDelete3+3, and you get another term
Sam,
ReplyDelete3+3 and your legacy is assured.
uh, never mind
D'Ag
ReplyDelete3+3 and you can still be a prick
11:06PM Use your brains. TCP1 has no money to pay for a 3+3. The RIF is from a different (albeit non-existent) funding source.
ReplyDeleteIt seems clear to me that NNSA plans to get rid of about 20% of the LANL workforce. This would be about 2100 workers based on the current size of LANL.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Mike said he can't see LANL continuing to function if we lay off 1000 workers in a single year. Thus, we hear him announce layoffs of about 500 to 750 by sometime in March. However, this is just the beginning of a process to reach NNSA's final goal of 20% staff reductions.
The outcome of all this will be 3 years of RIFs with around 700 laid off in each of the next 3 years (3 x 700 = 2100). This gets NNSA to their 20% goal and allows LANS to proudly announce that they're satisfied that the rate of layoffs is not harming critical operations.
NNSA won't be expecting much from LANL in the area of deliverables or milestones during this 3 year period of layoffs. NNSA will want LANS to mainly focus on delivering three items:
(1) No security slip-ups,
(2) No safety slip-ups, and
(3) Yearly layoffs of about 700
If LANS can delivery on these items over the next 3 years then the LANS executives will be rewarded with a yearly salary bonus of 20%. Once the 20% staff reductions have been completed by FY2011, NNSA will feel they can begin negotiating with Congress to fund facility upgrades at TA-55 for the new Pit Factory.
Items (1) and (2) are the reason that Mike discretely mentioned in the All-Hands that he wouldn't be targeting layoffs in the area of security or safety at LANL. Those jobs are safe.
It's not clear yet which jobs LANS will target, but I'm guessing that anyone doing science not directly tied to weapons work is going to be fare game.
LANS has indicated no serious desire to diversify the science portfolio. In fact, Mike and his PADs seems downright hostile to the whole idea. This is because the LANS executive staff will make a good salary over the next few years regardless of whether they grow the project base at LANL. Because of this, you should expect to see TSM FTE rates go even higher and the percentage of WFO projects to drop even lower over the next 3 years.
LDRD will be funneled into projects that are used to serve nuclear weapons science, much in the same manner as the new MaRIE 'Signature Project' is being funneled into a stealth means for funding basic weapons research.
All in all, the above scenario isn't a pretty picture for LANL, but I believe it is a realistic one and there is little that the staff can do to change this situation.
11/20/07 9:35 PM,
ReplyDeleteThe solution for the younger generation not to have kids they can't afford is a rather shallow view of the reality of raising a family in these times.
I am very saddened by the comments on this topic. Perhaps writing to your representatives and polishing up your resume would be time better spent that whining over the pending reduction in force. Welcome to the real world.
ReplyDeleteHere is the path forward that is probably as certain as the pending need to get rid of not 750 people, but rather 1500 people immediately. Later this year, or perhaps next, NNSA will split the Laboratory into a separate entity and separate management structure for pit manufacturing. The rest of us will be what remains of the former and star-studded entity that was the Los Alamos National Laboratory. I am sure that LANS will divest itself of one or both entities, or break up with Becgtel, BWXT and WGI salivating over the pit efforts. With this split, the LDRD budget will be reduced to nothing because Terry Wallace will have nothing viable to tax for LDRD. The upshot is that which remains of the Los Alamos National Laboratory will be reduced from 4300 to around 1500. The pits mission will be steady at around 4500 people. Tom Udall will be its savior if he can transform the mission.
In the end, we have only ourselves to blame for the mismanagement that has us where we are. Perhaps if we would start questioning why we continue to pay such high tax rates for overhead, demand that our management fix the systems instead of outsourcing travel to create a greater waste of our time in trying to get reimbursed, and hold people accountable for their errors, we can turn the shipwreck USS Los Alamos around. However what I read here makes me believe that the nation would be better served by shuttering the place, and let the remains drift into oblivion.
If you have worked at LANL for 30 years what in the hell are you waiting for? Saving for a yacht or a porsche in retirment? Oh yeah, its greed, plain and simple. I'm getting mine before anyone else gets it. Yes, I'm sure your are brilliant and the place would just fold up and close if you left, but do us a favor test the theory. There are many at LANL who could comfortably retire with the SSP do you have no life, hobby, friends? That is the real hang up nobody talks about. These LANL lifers gave it all up for the $$$ and that is all they have left, the money. Line your coffin with it, if you think it will keep you warm at night.
ReplyDelete"Easy,no brainer solution.
ReplyDelete3+3.
2000 will take it at LANL,
1000 at Livermore, problem solved.
forward thinker"
Face reality. They will never offer a 3 + 3. Maybe in the past when Los Alamos was valued. Delusional thinking won't change things.
11/20/07 9:35 PM, you are unbelievable. Remember 1995? How many times did we all hear "Oh, no! How could they lay that poor man off? He has a wife and kids to support!" So get off your goddamn high horse. It's pretty easy to support kids when you have a job. It's a lot tougher when you lose it. People are starting families later and later in life now, which I would argue proves that younger folks are being far more fiscally responsible about starting their families than you old farts were.
ReplyDelete9:50 PM, our actinide chemistry student (I'm guessing although senior people do sometimes exhibit this naive attitude). Please you need to smell the coffee. Just where do you think LANS will get the dollars to deposit into your bank account? They don't have a printing press in NSSB, no matter what your AD says!
ReplyDeletehey 3:29
ReplyDeleteYou seem to forget that the years service means absolutely nothing without age. You can have 30 years at LANL and be only 50 or 51 years old. Of course you are going to continue to work.
At 50 or 51 you still have kids in college or in high school, are still not ready for retirement, and have day to day expenses and obligations like someone who is a new hire and young.
You seem to be more jealous than anything. If this eats at you that much you really need to leave. It's not going to get any better for your attitude.
"If you have worked at LANL for 30 years what in the hell are you waiting for? Saving for a yacht or a porsche in retirment? Oh yeah, its greed, plain and simple."
ReplyDeleteEnough with the philosophizing11/21/07 3:29AM . Just show me the money and I'll gladly leave. Show me the money!
They showed you all the money they're going to.
ReplyDeleteIn the vein of 4:00. Assume you are a middle of the pack performer. You'll likely survive until the cuts get up to maybe the 25-30% range. If the cuts look like they will eventually go deeper, assume you will get cut and plan accordingly.
I guess I haven't been around here long enough.
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell is a "3+3"?
Add 3 years to your age, 3 years to your service to increase your retirement benefits as an incentive to get people to retire early.
ReplyDelete-Gus
I'm so sick of all the bitching and moaning about who should go first. I know quite a few double-dippers that will be very hard to replace when they take the voluntary separation. I also know quite a few double-dippers who should never have been allowed to put a whole career in here, much less two.
ReplyDeleteIf you're an ass-kisser, you'll do just fine during this RIF. There's more blue falcons per worker at this lab than anywhere else I've been.
I've already lined up a better job and the nice little "bonus" I get for voluntary separation will help out on a down payment on a home in a market that is not nearly as overpriced as this one.
Hasta la vista, baby!
Oh, let me translate that for some of you: Baaa Baaa BaaaBaaa!
Charles Mansfield, president of the Laboratory Retiree Group Inc., said the layoffs could have an impact throughout northern New Mexico, calling the facility "a major economic engine."
ReplyDeletei'm glad Charles can make himself feel so importnt but stating what is painfully obvious.
Way to go Charlie!!!
11/20/07 7:26 PM
ReplyDeleteWhat is a HUGH UC Check?
If you're an ass-kisser, you'll do just fine during this RIF. There's more blue falcons per worker at this lab than anywhere else I've been.11/21/07 5:30 PM
ReplyDeleteThat is the sad thing. There is a high likelyhood that deadwood will be retatained while the competent leave.
It makes sense - who would hire the deadwood?
7:26 -
ReplyDeleteSorry. With all the double dipping money piling up around my keyboard I misspelled.
Gotta get some of these 20's put into 100's.