Thursday, May 9, 2013
Hey LANL and Sandia!
During the LLNL All Hands meeting, the Director briefly discussed employee contributions to TCP-1. He commented that he was encountering the argument "LANL and Sandia both did it (raised employee contributions to 7%, I think), why can't you?"
Can some of you LANL and Sandia folks please comment on what your contribution rate is to your defined-benefit plans?
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44 comments:
Sandians currently do not make direct contributions to their defined benefit pensions. This has been the case for my almost 3 decade career. The lab is currently paying into the pension fund using overhead.
I think Parney's comment was specific to LANL and the University of California system, not Sandia.
I'm paying 7% of my gross at LANL into TCP-1. And it's taxed too...not pre-tax like a 401k. It's contributed significantly to my shrinking take home pay. The sub-inflation rate raises shrink the buying power of what's left. McMillan testified to Congress that he's losing mid-career employees and LANL is at the tipping point. Does anyone wonder why?
May 9, 2013 at 8:23 PM:
Yeah, and SNL got rid of their pension for employees who joined after 2008. Is that also the case for LLNL and LANL?
Thus, I my projects get a huge overhead tax to pay for all of the old fart's pension plans.
LANL's poster 8:50 pm pretty much nails it for Los Alamos. The TCP1 7% cut off the top of LANL salaries is, unfortunately, post-tax! It was never properly explained to the staff why that must be.
The post-tax aspect makes it more like a 10% cut in pay. Very painful when raises, if they are given out at all in the "good" years, are now usually limited to about a 1% annual increase.
I should also warn you that the 7% hair-cut in salaries to help pay for TCP-1 is probably not the end of it. With fixed income assets and bonds having yields so low, that 7% will likely have to be raised even further in the future.
LANL Employee contributions:
The TCP1 Defined Benefit Pension Plan includes employee contributions.
6% on the first $113,700 of pension eligible pay
8% on pension eligible pay between $113,700 and $255,000
No contributions on pay above $255,000
An offset of $8.77 is deducted from the contribution amount on a biweekly basis
Note: $8.77 is an adjustment factor that applies to the initial employee contribution implemented in 2010, and was designed to equitably distribute contributions across salary ranges.
LANL Emp.
Thanks LANL Emp.
Interesting to see how these things are being done at LLNL vs LANL.
Yeah. You can see why Parney would be having a hard time resisting an increase from 5% to 7% at LLNL.
Now, about this "after tax" business....does anybody have any insight on why the TCP-1 contribution does not reduce the taxable income, like 401(k) contributions? Are pension payments also taxed? Seems like a double hit if they are.
The % of your pension you contribute is not taxed when paid out to you later. You will get a taxable and non-taxable portion of your pension payments.
Next Logical Question:
If employer pension contributions are a corporate tax write off....
...why aren't personal pension contributions a personal tax write off???
I worked at LANL starting at 1975. For the first 10 years or so we had 7% deducted from our salary for the UC PENSION. We also had many years where we had no raises and or delayed raises.
Adam Rowen (manager of the Materials Chemistry department) from Sandia National Laboratories does not have a Ph.D.
Three Vice Presidents of technical divisions at Sandia National Laboratories do not have a Ph.D.: Hruby, Walker, Vahle. To my knowledge, these are the first ever Vice Presidents without a Ph.D. in Science or Engineering to lead techical divisions at Sandia.
Wow! That's crazy (and quite demotivating_! Leading technical divisions at Sandia without a Ph.D. is like the blind leading the blind!
Why in the world would you put people without PhDs in technical leadership positions?
Why in the world would you put people without PhDs in technical leadership positions?
May 10, 2013 at 10:48 PM
You just don't get diversity at all levels, do you?
All a PhD means is you are an expert in a very narrow area. An engineer with an MS and MBA is much better suited for an exucitve leadership position.
An engineer with an MS and MBA is much better suited for an exucitve leadership position.
May 11, 2013 at 8:30 AM
"Executive leadership" by MBAs employed by a for-profit corporation vs scientific leadership by PhDs employed by a major university system is what has doomed the NNSA science labs.
So what leadership or management couses are part of the curiculumn for a PhD in Science or engineering? Some engineering schools offer electives in engineering project management or engineering econ other than than I cant think of any. At Sandia a PhD over a MS for enginneers in leadership is merely a title. The physics labs is different since the PhD is essential required to practice Physics.
Leadership and management courses are mostly drivel. Most MBAs are useless. There is no substitute for working your way up through an organization, for understanding it and knowing how to manage it. More importantly, to lead it.
The issue at hand is this: the individuals mentioned above are leading *technical divisions* (i.e. materials chemistry, physics, weapons, etc.) and don't have a PhD. Since they are in a technical role, they should be expected to be well-versed to understand the technical details of their employees. The fact that they don't have a PhD (while their employees do) is a disgrace to Sandia and NNSA.
If technical work doesn't involve research, you may not need the PhDs. On many NNSA projects, project mgmt experience is more important that the ability to write academic papers.
As Steven Chu demonstrated, having a PhD doesn't mean jack in leadership positions. If anything, it hurt him because he did what he thought was good for ideal science, and got suckered by the real world we live in.
The Sandians you listed have 30+ years of experience in lab programs. You don't need 3 letters behind your name to be a critical thinker.
As Steven Chu demonstrated, having a PhD doesn't mean jack in leadership positions. If anything, it hurt him because he did what he thought was good for ideal science, and got suckered by the real world we live in...
May 11, 2013 at 3:14 PM
No, he got suckered by his pre-existing biases for "green" technologies, bolstered by the Obama plants in the DOE pushing them beyond his ability to see the scams. He's a decent scientist, a lousy administrator, and a very bad judge of character and motive among his underlings.
The executive branch in an archaic, inefficient mess. Nothing can fix it.
Maybe the Spanish flu.
Oh wow! Sandia actually hires managers without PhDs?
Yeah it's true that several Sandia managers don't have PhDs! Even here at LANL it's rare to have that happen.
" pay for all of the old fart's pension plans..'
Hey. Go easy here. Remember what I taught you. You'll make me cry.
Pass the cialis, I'm going back to the beach.
Class of "09.
If only the lack of a PhD was the root of our management problems at SNL...yeah right. I wish it was that simple.
"You can see why Parney would be having a hard time resisting an increase from 5% to 7% at LLNL."
Parney is a jackass if he buys this.
LANL's pension is 80% funded and needs contributions and LLNL's is 150% funded and needs another contribution like Paris Hilton needs a penis.
Speaking of root problems at Sandia, I heard that a DMTS brought up the technical incompetency of managers to Paul Hommert 2 months ago in a meeting. Hommert acknowledged the incompetency but basically shrugged it off.
This is indeed a problem that can't be ignored. If you look at the number of R&D100 awards in the last couple of years, both LLNL and LANL have taken the lion's share of these awards compared to Sandia's nearly nonexistent R&D100 awards.
Yeah it's true that several Sandia managers don't have PhDs! Even here at LANL it's rare to have that happen.
May 12, 2013 at 10:40 PM
Rare? Take a look at the Los Alamos nuclear weapon chain.
Bret Knapp, PAD, Nuclear Weapons, M.S. UC Davis, no PhD
John Benner, AD Nuclear Weapons, M.S. UC Davis, no PhD
James Owen, W Division Leader, M.S. New Mexico State, no PhD
LANL nuclear weapon program, no PhD required.
The MS/PhD issue is minor, If you want REAL problems with regards to management appointments, think about how the labs (some more than others) promote managers who lack the right background and qualifications. Prime example:
Charlie McMillan, absolutely no experience in operations and risk management surrounding SNM handling, for a lab that has ALOT of SNM related operations.
You can go down the line to find numerous examples (LANL and LLNL) where they promote modellers to lead experimental groups. We can go through the list if you want this thread to be filled with painfully damning and brusing posts.
Appointments are based on cronyism, not based on selecting the best and most qualified candidates.
Some very fine scientific leaders lacked the patience to finish the PhD grind.
Mike Campbell
John Nuckolls
It is very helpful, but it is not a requirement. Demonstrated competence and leadership is the real measure.
Some very fine scientific leaders lacked the patience to finish the PhD grind.
May 13, 2013 at 4:44 PM
Sorry but "patience" isn't the requirement. What is required is the ability to persevere towards a goal, surmounting obstacles and maintaining quality and clear vision. Those requirements are very much the hallmarks of a great leader. Impatience and unwillingness to stick to a hard task until it is completed are not.
Let's see now, how much laser energy did Nuckolls calculate was needed for ignition? And, how much money did Campbell tell the taxpayer it would cost to do it? And, what university offers a PhD in BS?
John Benner, AD Nuclear Weapons, M.S. UC Davis, no PhD
Steve Renfro deputy AD Nuclear Weapons, BS and MBA UNM , no PhD
Don't need PhDs in top levels of nuclear weapons research management any longer now that the NNSA labs are a "money-making machine" run by the infamous Bechtel Boys.
Yes, the once famous NNSA labs have become pretty much a scam operation.
the NNSA labs are a "money-making machine" run by the infamous Bechtel Boys.
May 16, 2013 at 11:27 AM
Actually, UC is the managing partner in both LLNS and LANS.
"BS and MBA UNM , no PhD"
It's not the "no PhD" that strikes me as disappointing, but rather the UNM for the MBA.
Elitist jerk! Not everyone can be a Harvard MBA!
Not everyone can be a Harvard MBA - if you don't have one you need to learn the words "Would you like fries with that?"
http://llnlthetruestory.blogspot.com/2013/05/hey-lanl-and-sandia.html?showComment=1368229152210#c5184911644985578339
A couple of people in the Materials Chemistry department (including Adam Rowen, the manager) at Sandia booked a trip using Sandia funds to Hawaii to attend the 2012 ECS meeting. That is definitely a waste!
http://llnlthetruestory.blogspot.com/2013/07/sandias-fee-penalties.html?showComment=1378966217910#c7620251885107437128
Adam Rowen is no longer the manager of the materials chemistry department at Sandia! You should hear what many of the former staff members in his former department have to say about him.
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