Any word on our next raise package? OK, you can stop laughing now and answer the question.
Tri-Valley Cares needs to be on this if they aren't already. We need to make sure that NNSA and LLNL does not make good on promises to pursue such stupid ideas as doing Plutonium experiments on NIF. The stupidity arises from the fact that a huge population is placed at risk in the short and long term. Why do this kind of experiment in a heavily populated area? Only a moron would push that kind of imbecile area. Do it somewhere else in the god forsaken hills of Los Alamos. Why should the communities in the Bay Area be subjected to such increased risk just because the lab's NIF has failed twice and is trying the Hail Mary pass of doing an SNM experiment just to justify their existence? Those Laser EoS techniques and the people analyzing the raw data are all just BAD anyways. You know what comes next after they do the experiment. They'll figure out that they need larger samples. More risk for the local population. Stop this imbecilic pursuit. They wan...
Comments
1. Since the money comes out of the operating budget if the budget is tight, don't hand out much and try to keep the Titanic floating a little longer.
2. Show NNSA/DOE that you are reigning in the costs and bonus money will roll in - just not to you and me.
3. You are curious about the raise package? Curiosity is not need to know.
You always need to know what your competition is doing and what they are being paid for. Based on my last 27 years of experience it's always been about those who were managements pets. Ranking had very little to do with performance but was all about perception often twisted by word of mouth by those who bad mouthed their peers to make themselves appear superior in all aspects. Yes, I have the need to know everyone's pay for various reasons and when I do I will make an observation and categorize them as deserving or a kiss butts. The pissoff sheet was a wonderful tool if you used it to learn from instead of a grudge holder.
I highly doubt that the pension made any money this year. The big question is just how much did the pension lose? A pension is expected to return about 8% per year. Most investors are seeing losses of around 5% to 25%! Therefore, you'll be forking over your raises for the next several years and then some to make up for the big loss. That should help speed up the thinning out of the ranks at LLNL, especially among the mid-career and younger employees. These people won't want to stay around and see large portions of their salary hijacked for the rest of their LLNL career.
Bored, Trapped in Your Job?
5 Signs It's Time to Move On
by Jenna Lebel, Experience, Inc.,
When you landed that new job, the world looked great. Now it's been a while, and one of your worst fears has come true -- you're unhappy in your job. When you're spending at least five days a week at work, it makes sense that you'd want to like what you're doing. But there are times when you're in a position or company that doesn't work for you.
If you're unhappy with your job -- and everybody around you probably already knows it -- it might be time for a career transition. Results from an Experience.com survey provide some insight into making the change. According to the survey, the top signal that it's time to transition to a new job is not the boss yelling at you. In fact, the number-one warning sign is:
* Your job has become boring. Most people are not in it just for the money. On the contrary, they're looking for something that gives them the chance to make a difference. If, in fact, you're finding a lack of intellectual stimulation and challenge, you have lots of company -- nearly 30 percent of respondents cited this as their biggest indicator it's time to leave a job.
* Another warning signal to workers that it may be time to make a transition is the lack of growth opportunities. If you're in a dead end job, with no place to move (unless a lot of people grow old and retire), you're in trouble. Twenty-two percent of respondents felt trapped in a position with little room for career progression.
* Others felt they were receiving inadequate pay or benefits. It may not all be about money, but some of it certainly is. Do you feel underpaid? Do you have lousy (or no) benefits? Seventeen percent of employees feel the economic pinch, and when that happens, may have to decide whether their job is really worth it.
* Work friends are very important. If your relationships with co-workers have gone bad, that's a definite sign that it's time to move on. Seventeen percent of those surveyed agreed -- if you're not getting along, you're going to feel like you're suffocating.
* Lack of investment in the company's goals/mission. This is more than just a self-esteem thing, but was mentioned by 13% of the respondents as a key factor indicating a career change. You need to be part of the big picture, or you're not in the picture at all.
Once you encounter the warning signs that it might be time to make a career transition, how long do you wait before you leave?
Most people (52%) said they would wait at least a year to see if it improved. Others were not as patient and hopeful. Thirty-two percent of respondents said they would quit as soon as they found another job, while 16% reported they would stay no longer than six months.
"When you clearly communicate you are under-challenged, wait a few months to see if your superior responds, and if not, it's time to take your knowledge and expertise to a company that will let you grow," one respondent said.
=====
Don't worry that "up to 16%"of your paycheck donations per payday is coming.
They're probably trying to cover up the TCP1 losses until they can't hide them any longer. When the salary contributions to the pension finally hit, I predict they'll be a big shocker.
Many pensions held supposedly "safe" preferred equities from the banks and Fannie Mae because they could get a very easy 8% return. Unfortunately, many of these so-called "safe" preferreds have tanked in value after Fannie went belly up. In the case of the Fannie preferreds (held by many pensions), it looks like the holders will be wiped out, as the Feds have decided they won't protect this class of investors.
Another tactic used by pensions was to jump into the hot commodity markets over the last year. The tanking of the commodity markets over the last two months is tearing huge holes in many pension balance sheets.
My guess is the losses in TCP1 will finally be trotted out by next summer, after about 12 more months of a steep recession have taken place. It's not going to be a pretty sight.
http://atyourservice.ucop.edu/news/general/0809-judyboyette_message.html
Administrative (400s ) 2.30%
Technical (500s) 2.00%
S&E's (200s) 2.11%
Technical (300s) 1.54%
A&S Administrative Services (Axx) 1.00%