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How do you retain such talented people for such a long time? These people could get jobs in the most cutting-edge company in their respective fields. Still they

How do you retain such talented people for such a long time? These people could get jobs in the most cutting-edge company in their respective fields. Still they choose to stay at the same place for decades.

rhombocombus 9y ago
By having them work on one of humanity's most important exploration projects ever. I get the impression that a lot of these folks are big picture types and that it would take a lot more than a pay raise to drag them away from their life's work.
bitexploder 9y ago
It is the love of the mission. The knowledge that you are advancing humanity in this concrete unique way, and that due to circumstance, if you quit it has a tangible increase in the chance of failure for this mission. It is how places like the NSA and other organizations within the government can retain such talented people. It is why PhD scientists toil in their field for much less than they could make in the public sector. It is why people choose to work at a lifestyle company making less than their counterparts at tech giants. A love of the mission/work and or a belief in the organization and its overall goals. See: Daniel Pink and the whole autonomy, mastery, and purpose idea. This mission checks those three boxes quite strongly, likely captivating the engineers and folks on the mission :)
Merad 9y ago
It's a combination of things. Many (most?) of the people want to be there and are passionate about what they're doing. Financially it's still a great job by normal standards and once you have tenure (I think they may call it something else) it's an extremely secure job. I have a friend who works there - brilliant guy who went to school for physics but is also very talented at low level embedded systems type development. When he graduated with a physics masters he turned down a six figure offer to start at NASA at around $60k. From what he's told me though, he's essentially guaranteed to hit the six figure mark within 6-8 years. Last time we spoke he had just started his PhD (paid by NASA) and was working on the Mars 2020 rover.
- user5994461 9y ago
  It's also a matter of location. 6 figures in SF/NYC can be less than 60k somewhere else.
user5994461 9y ago
And get laid off one year later when the cutting edge is obsoleted. No thanks.
seasonalgrit 9y ago
I guess it depends on one's definition of cutting-edge . . . > 'The data the probes are collecting are challenging fundamental physics and will provide clues to the biggest of questions: Why did our sun give birth to life only here? Where else, within our solar system or others, are we most likely to find evidence that we are not alone?'

rhombocombus 9y ago

By having them work on one of humanity's most important exploration projects ever. I get the impression that a lot of these folks are big picture types and that it would take a lot more than a pay raise to drag them away from their life's work.

bitexploder 9y ago

It is the love of the mission. The knowledge that you are advancing humanity in this concrete unique way, and that due to circumstance, if you quit it has a tangible increase in the chance of failure for this mission. It is how places like the NSA and other organizations within the government can retain such talented people. It is why PhD scientists toil in their field for much less than they could make in the public sector. It is why people choose to work at a lifestyle company making less than their counterparts at tech giants. A love of the mission/work and or a belief in the organization and its overall goals. See: Daniel Pink and the whole autonomy, mastery, and purpose idea. This mission checks those three boxes quite strongly, likely captivating the engineers and folks on the mission :)

Merad 9y ago

It's a combination of things. Many (most?) of the people want to be there and are passionate about what they're doing. Financially it's still a great job by normal standards and once you have tenure (I think they may call it something else) it's an extremely secure job. I have a friend who works there - brilliant guy who went to school for physics but is also very talented at low level embedded systems type development. When he graduated with a physics masters he turned down a six figure offer to start at NASA at around $60k. From what he's told me though, he's essentially guaranteed to hit the six figure mark within 6-8 years. Last time we spoke he had just started his PhD (paid by NASA) and was working on the Mars 2020 rover.

user5994461 9y ago
It's also a matter of location. 6 figures in SF/NYC can be less than 60k somewhere else.

user5994461 9y ago

And get laid off one year later when the cutting edge is obsoleted. No thanks.

seasonalgrit 9y ago

I guess it depends on one's definition of cutting-edge . . . > 'The data the probes are collecting are challenging fundamental physics and will provide clues to the biggest of questions: Why did our sun give birth to life only here? Where else, within our solar system or others, are we most likely to find evidence that we are not alone?'