Nov 13, 2007

The Numbers

It's beginning to sound like 500 at LLNL, 800 at SNL, and 1,800 at LANL. We should know more tomorrow.

-Gus

32 comments:

  1. Hello darkness, my old friend,
    I've come to talk with you again,
    Because a vision softly creeping,
    Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
    And the vision that was planted in my brain
    Still remains
    Within the sound of science.

    In restless dreams I walked alone
    Narrow streets of cobblestone,
    'neath the halo of a street lamp,
    I turned my collar to the cold and damp
    When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of
    A neon light
    That split the night
    And touched the sound of science.

    And in the naked light I saw
    Ten thousand people, maybe more.
    People talking without speaking,
    People hearing without listening,
    People writing songs that voices never share
    And no one deared
    Disturb the sound of science.

    Fools said i,you do not know
    science like a cancer grows.
    Hear my words that I might teach you,
    Take my arms that I might reach you.
    But my words like silent raindrops fell,
    And echoed
    In the wells of science

    And the people bowed and prayed
    To the neon God they made.
    And the sign flashed out its warning,
    In the words that it was forming.
    And the signs said, the words of the prophets
    Are written on the subway walls
    And tenement halls.
    And whisperd in the sounds of science.

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  2. Here's your new, younger workforce, NNSA. Good luck with those nukes.

    60minutes.yahoo.com/
    segment/113/millennials

    Sunday, November 11, 2007
    Millennials - 60 Minutes (Video)

    Move over Generation X! The "Millennials" are here and they're taking over the American workplace. There are about 80 million of them - born between 1980 and 1995 - and they approach business in revolutionary new ways. They need pampering, some say coddling, and if you don't tell them what they want to hear, they're gone! Come along as Morley Safer walks a mile in their flip-flops.

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  3. "There are about 80 million of them - born between 1980 and 1995 - and they approach business in revolutionary new ways. They need pampering, some say coddling, and if you don't tell them what they want to hear, they're gone!"

    Yes, at LANL we call these people postdocs. Don't criticize them, make them work harder than they wish or do anything to make them have to earn a job. Just give it to them!

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  4. Don't forget that ~500 contractors have ALREADY been laid off at LANL.

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  5. 12:51 AM

    Great song by the band Nevermore!

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  6. Talk about managing inflation. Look at the bright side. If ever ther was a time to buy real estate in Los Alamos, nows the time!

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  7. Gussie- LANS is all about keeping options open, so LANL employees won't get any concrete numbers before the last minute. LANS will hint about big changes and roll out a 'voluntary' just to see who bites.

    Sometime down the road LANS will pick a number that improves their bottom line and make a final RIF list. All the talk about hard workers vs. deadwood is moot- Legal already has a computerized balanced demographic list with empty slots. It is going to come down to your gender, last name, age, ethnicity, etc.

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  8. Did legal use Hit-the-Roadrunner to come up with this computerized list?

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  9. "When you come to a fork in the road, pick it up."

    Yogi Berra

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  10. Talk about managing inflation. Look at the bright side. If ever ther was a time to buy real estate in Los Alamos, nows the time!

    11/13/07 8:17 AM

    Please tell me you were joking.

    I hope there are several "token" nanagers on the RIF list

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  11. Los Alamos... the new Flint, Michigan.

    Thank, Tom Udall. We'll remember your part in all this as you begin your campaign for New Mexico Senator.

    If Udall helped to do this much destruction to the district as a Congressman, just imagine what he'll be able to accomplish as our next New Mexico Senator. Visions of the US "Rust Belt" states come to mind.

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  12. After the big announcement by Director Miller at LLNL on Monday, you would think that LANS would finally be ready to begin giving out more information about the upcoming RIF, as mandated by DOE. And what doe we hear? Nothing, nada, zilch!

    On LANL's front page we see topics like "New Lean Six-Sigma Tool Launched", but no new information about the one event that is getting ready to dramatically affect the lives of all who work here.

    This is leadership? At least Miller had the good sense to shed some tears at LLNL's meeting and donate some of his executive bonus to help those in need. Where is the Ewok? Hiding in some dark, damp cave?

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  13. According to the LLNL post and the LLNL article, the 500 mentioned for LLNL look like contractors, with possibly 300 more permanent staff in the next phase.

    How many contractors does LANL still have 300-400?

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  14. Yeah, right, 7:59, original version of that song by S&G is from about 1966. There's some generation gap for you.

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  15. 1:05pm

    Like whatever! I bet you think "Come With Me" by Puff Daddy was written by some band called Led Zeppelin. pleeeeze! ;)

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  16. "Yes, at LANL we call these people postdocs. Don't criticize them, make them work harder than they wish or do anything to make them have to earn a job. Just give it to them!"

    And Mary Ann wonders why nobody will sponsor postdocs now? You get all the liability and none of the authority as a postdoc mentor.

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  17. I heard today that NNSA (or is it DOE?) has not approved the LANS RIF plan yet.....

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  18. 11/13/07 11:44 AM got it back to front; it wasn't Udall that larded LANL up with pork fat since the end of the Cold War, to the detriment of the Lab's scientific research. It was Senator "Pit" Dementia (R-NM). Some prescient people have warned us for years about privatization by the the money-sucking, cold-blooded Bechtilians and their ilk. And Sen. "Pit" was their Main Man, along with his hand-picked team of NNSA Enablers. But the true villains will escape the feeble antennae of LANL trolls, and others, like Udall, will get the main blame. Always happens in LA County.

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  19. "Yes, at LANL we call these people postdocs. Don't criticize them, make them work harder than they wish or do anything to make them have to earn a job. Just give it to them!"

    "And Mary Ann wonders why nobody will sponsor postdocs now? You get all the liability and none of the authority as a postdoc mentor.

    11/13/07 3:18 PM"

    Postdocs are an integral part of LANL and the scientific community. Almost all the postdocs I have seen at LANL are excellent and hard working. In my experience it is very rare to see mentors that are not satisfied with the
    postdocs. Over the years some postdocs in my division have stayed on as staff members and many others have gone on to university positions in the United States and abroad at some of the best universities in the world.

    I have no idea who the 5:16 am or 3:18pm posters are. The comments are so far off the mark that I suspect that they do not work at Los Alamos. In any case their comments have little to nothing to do with the general experience that people have with postdocs at Los Alamos or any other institute that I know of.

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  20. PS 4:40, you're so clueless that I suspect you do actually work at LANL.

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  21. "According to the LLNL post and the LLNL article, the 500 mentioned for LLNL look like contractors, with possibly 300 more permanent staff in the next phase. "

    Only some of the 500 are contractors, many will be Flex Term employees (6-year maximum term). Flex Term employees have all the same benefits as Indefinite Career, except when it comes to severance packages. I believe they get 30 days notice or pay in lieu of notice. Other than the severance, they are full-time regular employees.

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  22. 9:03 am:

    Actually, eric, the correct quote is "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

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  23. 12:51 am:

    Deeply buried, but obviously intentional lyric errors in your venerable Simon and Garfunkle song: it's not "science like a cancer grows" but "silence like a cancer grows," also "sounds of silence" at the end, not "sounds of science." Just seeing who's paying attention, or are you making some (obscure) point?

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  24. 7:33pm

    You are one sad and worthless person. Please leave the world alone and we will all be better off.

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  25. 7:33 here.

    You're half right. I am probably worthless, but actually, I am a generally happy person.

    Glass half full (of aqua regia!).

    Cheerio!

    ps - your half right, not half wrong - I practice what I preach!

    :)

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  26. And thanks PaTB/GFN for posting my comment despite my your/you're mistake!

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  27. An 1,800 reduction at LANL sounds too high. I'm guessing we'll see something around the 1,400 mark with about 400 of that being people who take the voluntary separation. That will leave 1000 workers to be RIFed from LANL. The breakdown of the those RIFed will be 50/50 with about 500 TSMs and 500 support workers. No managers will be laid off.

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  28. 400 voluntary? 30% of 1400 based on your estimate? Better be a good incentive with all the details figured out.

    Looks like over FY07, almost the entire net decrease in LANS FTEs = TSM+TECH+Support+Mgt (Excl Cont/Stud/PDs) was due to net decreases in the TSM and TECH FTEs. Basically, no net change in Support and Mgt FTEs.

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  29. "400 voluntary? 30% of 1400 based on your estimate? Better be a good incentive with all the details figured out."

    NSTec got 46 voluntary out of ~200 they have to cut - the voluntary package was no different than the involuntary package.

    I doubt there will be much of an incentive, there's no money in the budget.

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  30. There's are good reasons why no managers will be RIFed: There would be an immediate need to back-fill the position, unlike non-management TSMs and support positions. Unless general reorganization accompanies the RIF, no management positions will be eliminated. Simple. No upper manager will take this as an opportunity to RIF a poor-performing lower manager. First, they can be removed at any time as managers without any fuss. Second, why compound the chaos in an organization. Third, no net reduction in employees. Nope, won't happen.

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