What has improved?
- Safety
- Security
- Compliance
- Bureaucracy
- Landscaping
What has not improved, declined or even worsened?
- Productivity: declined, due to a higher % of resources spent on compliance.
- Morale: worsened; people, young and graying, walk around hunched over, knowing it wont getter any better. With sub 1% raises and bad job market, everyone is here waiting for a miracle.
- Good ol boy's culture: in 2007, the expectation that the Bechtel boys will come in and straighten out the UC guys and instill "private" industry culture of efficiency and productivity was a consolation. Guess what, the Bechtel boys joined the UC boys in their tradition of mediocrity. So, the good old boys culture is well and alive. The only difference is that taxpayers are paying and extra100 Million to manage LLNL and 2000 of our colleagues are no longer here!
- Cost of doing business: Rising! Why? I thought Bechtel was here for their business know-how and paid to run LLNL more efficiently. Oh no? Is their job to collect their fee and play watchdog for NNSA? Did we need a construction and project management company for that?
- Work for others: How are we doing? Global Security: can you answer that?
- Science in general: Anyone left who is qualified to answer this one? You have to admit that we were a real Science Lab under UC.
If people were open about how they feel and not afraid of reprisals from the Bechtel boys, we might be able to improve this Lab. Until then, it is moreof the same throughout many more no-bid contract extensions.
13 comments:
One data point is the statistics of the current job openings at LANL/LANS. The ratio of support to technical job openings is 2.45 to 1. There are 61 Scientist/R&D Engineers (53 Scientists and 8 R&D Engineers) to 152 support/management positions currently being advertised. Of the 152 support, 38 were management positions. LANS is clearly focused on LANS becoming a "support" and "management" (S&M) Laboratory. This speaks volumes for the course LANS is on, science is low priority.
I was talking to a middle manager a few weeks back. I asked "What has Bechtel brought to the table since the contract change - the reply:
NOTHING
Did safety improve?
We had an on site fatality. It appears that that was human failure and no amount of web classes could have prevented this type of accident. It could have happened under UC's watch as well.
Security:
We've got new DOE badges that have the RFID chip disabled via the badge holder. I know that I am taking more web classes on Security / Computer Security. Do I feel we've improved the lab, not really.
Compliance:
Oh we got to be better looking, I haven't heard GAO or Congress telling us that Bechtel has failed in this regard.
Bereaucracy:
Well, if having more of it is the yardstick, LLNS has hit a home run.
Landscaping:
As Billy Crystal would say:
"You look mavaless"
If E.O. Lawrence were alive today, he'd petition to have his name removed from the place.
Productivity: declined, due to a higher % of resources spent on compliance.
Some truth to that, though business services really did get skinnied up. So there have been gains there.
...people, young and graying, walk around hunched over, knowing it won't getter any better.
Hmm, I see a lot of people working hard, excited about their efforts.
Good ol boy's culture:
Of course there are ol gals too now. I would say multiple cultures remain, including one of entitlement.
Work for others: How are we doing? Global Security: can you answer that?
WFO seems to be turning up. That's why Engineering is hiring.
You have to admit that we were a real Science Lab under UC.
And we were and are a Program Lab, too. The science beach has been curtailed, but there's still plenty going on.
...we might be able to improve this Lab.
People are working hard each day to make a difference. Put a shoulder to the wheel.
"Security:
We've got new DOE badges that have the RFID chip disabled via the badge holder...."
Security opposed the new badges without success. After all, it is so much easier to see who has a Q clearance these days....
"Security opposed the new badges without success. After all, it is so much easier to see who has a Q clearance these days...."
Ah, the good old days of Red and Green badges. Good old Hazel O'Leary and the great thinking DOE. Make those badges look similar, we wouldn't want to single out folks who obviously don't have a clearance and shouldn't be at this meeting. That would be impolite and rude.
Want to know where all your enormous project overhead taxes go at the new, "for-profit" managed NNSA labs? Then take a look at this video recently done by LANS LLC and posted on YouTube:
"How to use the stairs" - YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDsTc2oWGSI
This LANS video instructs staff how to use stairs and is paired with a background of children's music! LANL and LLNL have become the laughing stock of the national labs under Bechtel's compliance driven, "for-profit" management!
Sad, very sad.
"People are working hard each day to make a difference. Put a shoulder to the wheel."
July 3, 2010 8:29 PM
Why? So you can make your nice 20% LANS/LLNS upper management bonus this year?
"People are working hard each day to make a difference. Put a shoulder to the wheel."
If you give me a raise that keeps up with the cost of living I would consider it. Sorry, I don't work for peanuts.
Things are much better at LLNL and LANL since the LLCs began taking over the management operations of the NNSA labs.
It's not even debatable. The LLC teams have been a huge success! Just look at the metrics. Facts don't lie.
The LLC teams have been a huge success! Just look at the metrics. Facts don't lie.
July 20, 2010 10:14 AM
Ha! Good one. By "facts" of course, you mean "fabrications that have no basis in fact concocted to meet metrics." Metrics are goals to be met. Claims that they have been met might be facts, or not.
The good news is that I don't care.
My term is nearly up. I hired into a fine organization many years ago, that was fundamentally upset three years past. Locked in, unwilling to leave, I bided time.
My sentence is now nearly served. I have listened to Miller's misrepresentations for almost the last time. The gauntlet of bureaucrats has not daunted me. I have nearly finished the race.
Maestro, queue up Johnny Paycheck
"The good news is that I don't care."
You are not the only one. That seems to be an almost universal feeling of those left on the professional staff at both LLNL and LANL since the "for-profit" boys took over and began feathering their nests with big wads of lab cash.
The best safety people got out of here years ago. All that's lefty are the hacks.
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