Thursday, September 26, 2013
Coming soon to a laboratory near you!
Coming soon to a laboratory near you!
Layoffs are going to happen across all the energy and weapons laboratories. The budgets are not sustainable in the current economic climate and Oak Ridge is just the first.
http://news.sciencemag.org/funding/2013/09/oak-ridge-national-laboratory-trim-staff-much-11
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27 comments:
My understanding is that llnl prepared for this with the ssvsp in summer, so ornl is not the first.
Uh - does it really make any difference who was first? Perhaps you time is better spent formulating a plan to support your family should you appear on the Reduction In Force (RIF) list - which is certain to follow if enough folks don't elect to take the Voluntary Separation Program (VSP) . . .
Is another SSVSP on the near term horizon for LLNS before an involuntary layoff? Are NIF employees seeking employment on the outside in numbers above normal attrition due to the funding environment?
Call me what you want,
but if there are rough waters ahead I am glad we have the Director (Parney) and his 2nd (Giaconda)in charge.
I could think of a few other past managers I would not feel as good about.
If you never met them then keep your opinion to yourself because you do not have a clue.
You're delusional, seek help
Obviously you have never met them.
You might prefer Michael A. as a Director during these times?
Parney has a decent chance to pull through the tough times. Listen to him talk and it comes out that he knows that his job has many dimensions. He is not self-obsessed over any one part of his position. If LLNL does make it out to the other side of the economic storm, it will be due in large part to his efforts.
Count me in as another blogger who is pro-Parney....
September 28, 2013 at 7:17 PM
Instead of being ANON you should use your real name out here since you are slated for a top management job to say the least. You Go Bro, Go....
I'm just a peon so bloggers go ahead and insult me all you want for the following: Parney is the first rational Director the lab has had in years. I'm not saying he is perfect. Instead of just caring about himself and his cronies, Parney cares about the whole lab and is rational in his strategies. Disagreeing with a narcissist (before Parney) and a rational thinker (Parney) are both disagreements but very different contexts.
If you wanted to place wagers on the Directors, it would be worth looking at their records. Parney has been hitting very strong for many years, in different positions in several different environments. Charlie has been a consistent back-up player in his important, but narrow area. Even though it is important, going forward it is hard to see a path where the success or failure of the Laboratories rides on a single area.
Wise money would be on Parney.
I'm a hard working peon too, but with an effective 14% pay cut, no bonus, and the sub standard 1% pay raise (when we do get a raise), I don't think Parney is in my corner.
In probably a futile effort to get back on topic, if there are layoffs, I am betting that Parney will not get rid of managers. We are top heavy with management and after losing huge amounts of people who work on projects, it is time to thin the management. When Parney does that, then I will know he is different than past lab directors. In our division we have one manager who manages ONE person. This is ridiculous.
Hopefully there will not be any large scale lay-offs (maybe because of the pre-emptive SSVP).
Sequestration may come up again with the Washington politics.
Again not Parney's fault.
In our division we have one manager who manages ONE person.
That must be one very important person.
"...We are top heavy with management and after losing huge amounts of people who work on projects, it is time to thin the management. When Parney does that, then I will know he is different than past lab directors..."
Excellent point! More focus on the "golden geese" innovators, the engine of LLNL funding, and a reduction in the number of egg collectors. Will it ever happen?
I have never met Giaconda but I have been in several meetings with Parney. He is an arrogant micro-manager that does not tolerate dissent. He surrounds himself with yes men and yes women. He makes technical statements outside his domain that are totally inaccurate. An analogy is someone who has never been to the SF Bay Area insisting that it is 100 miles between Livermore and Pleasanton - only to get upset when corrected. He implemented costly administrative reporting requirements in GS that are unfunded and have no benefit other than provide GS management with something to do, and are at the expense of the people who actually bring dollars into the Lab. He initiated the OSO, and is too arrogant to admit that it has been a costly mistake. He disrupted many NNSA-funded programs at LLNL with his handling of NIF/SCAP with DOE. Other LLNL management now say "do not let Parney negotiate budgets." He has done little if anything to reduce management, overhead, and administrative costs. In his support I believe he handled the potential furlough and SSVSP events reasonable well.
Why do all you people who hate Albright refer to him as "Parney"? First name basis for your enemy? Seems just a little too cozy...
It has nothing to do with love/hate/neutral on Parney. It's just the way we quickly refer to who we're talking about at LLNL.
It has no greater meaning.
Sorry, first name references imply a degree of closeness, affection, or respect. Member of a club, partner in a venture, etc. All perfectly appropriate for the lab management in better times. Time to get over it. Either you want him gone, or you feel affection for him. Decide which, and get over your ambivalence. It is so obvious and negates anything you say that opposes him or his policies. It is actually kind of creepy.
Why do all you people who hate Albright refer to him as "Parney"? First name basis for your enemy? Seems just a little too cozy...
Because that is his name. That is the name used in the post that first refers to him. That is how people refer to him at LLNL. Give me a break.
Why do people that love him so much and believe he is doing a great job not refer to him as Director Albright, Dr. Albright, or sir? What is the hidden meaning behind your reference to "Michael A" above (it is a negative reference, so why did you use his first name)? Equally stupid questions.
Yes it is a negative reference because in my opinion we are way better of with Parney (can I use his name?)and Giaconda than some past Directors.
Yes it is a negative reference because in my opinion we are way better of with Parney (can I use his name?)and Giaconda than some past Directors.
I see. So it is "kind of creepy" (your words) for someone to refer to Parney Albright by his first name, but it is reasonable for someone to refer to Michael Anastasio by his first name.
In my opinion, Laboratory Director Dr. Penrose Albright has not been an effective director. He has not made a dent in reducing management overhead or unfunded mandates. He has made it less productive and more difficult for scientists and other directly funded staff to perform work. He has added to the problem, not decreased it.
I see. So it is "kind of creepy" (your words) for someone to refer to Parney Albright by his first name, but it is reasonable for someone to refer to Michael Anastasio by his first name.
September 30, 2013 at 3:55 PM
You don't "see" anything. You are confusing at least two different posters (I am one). Try not to make so many assumptions.
Hopefully there will not be any large scale lay-offs (maybe because of the pre-emptive SSVP).
Sequestration may come up again with the Washington politics.
Again not Parney's fault.
September 29, 2013 at 11:28 AM
475 more before Dec 25th. No biggy, just an every year thing from now on to look forward too until the $17 T is paid off..
Poster:
Yes I think that is a good point.
The debt referred to in the posting (17T) not only could affect a pension IT IS affecting the yearly Lab budget.
Again it is a tough issue because some social programs are needed but maybe only if we could afford them.
A little off subject but we need a Democratic opposite of the Tea Party.
Socially liberal but fiscally responsible. If the Dems are going to be in power for a while that should not drive us into bankruptcy.
Moderately speaking Dems have been in power for 5 years now.
Please fix the debt on a state basis and federally and a socially liberal but fiscally responsible faction of the Dem party could do this, that's all I'm saying.
It would help the pension and Lab budget also.
October 1, 2013 at 7:30 AM
Don't worry, someone is going to have to bring back 18% home loans, higher federal and state taxes, Obamacare taxes and penalties and lower social program pay out of all sorts. Yes it is all being reserved for the next republican to put into place so that for four years the socialism media and it followers can complain about how evil the republicans are. So be it but someone has to put a stop to the BS handouts and get the country out of debt before the DEM's sell it to China. May the ever ongoing saga continue.
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