4 ms·

I imagine that laying off the best would lead to a decline in overall performance that would justify further cuts.

robertlagrant 2y ago
To me, the question is: if it's true that a bunch of lifers are wasting people's hard-earned tax money by being there, therefore management have not done a good job over a long period of time, also taking salaries to do so, then what do you do about it?
- JohnBooty 2y ago
  A fair question to ask. But, whatever the solution is, "firing all of the new blood" seems pretty much the opposite of whatever the solution might be.
  - robertlagrant 2y ago
    Is that what's happening? Edit: I didn't see the bit about probation. I think that's probably because you have to start with people on probation if you're making people redundant, right?
    - micromacrofoot 2y ago
      No, they're doing it to probationary employees because they're aren't protected by the same laws that require cause for firing. Political appointees require 30 days notice, rank-and-file must be given cause.
    - JohnBooty 2y ago
      Yeah. They have less protection, less political power to resist. They also presumably generally aren't running important things and filled with tribal knowledge so at least in the short term they are more disposable (if you don't care about the future)
      - robertlagrant 2y ago
        I don't mean that - I mean it's unlikely you can have people on probation stay on while making other people redundant, just from the perspective of regulations or union rules around redundancy.
- imoreno 2y ago
  Overall, NASA doesn't strike me as a place full of people leeching off government salaries with no benefit. They create valuable stuff. But the article mentions things like committing to suboptimal projects just so some senior workers can keep doing the same job... That sounds pretty bad. Space agencies shouldn't be jobs programs.
  - aerostable_slug 2y ago
    Everyone thinks that about agencies like NNSA and NASA, but then once you get under the covers it's a government agency like every other one. There are clerks and contract analysts and HR drones and people who push paper to other people who push paper in a self-perpetuating bureaucratic machine. Same thing with the Intelligence Community: lots of DMV-like cogs that have TS clearances but otherwise are little different than the masses occupying the Social Security office down the street.
    - abenga 2y ago
      Then you fire those "HR drones" along with the ostensibly "useful" people and suddenly you can't reach the "useful" people to rehire them because you fired HR.
alsoforgotmypwd 2y ago
[flagged]

To me, the question is: if it's true that a bunch of lifers are wasting people's hard-earned tax money by being there, therefore management have not done a good job over a long period of time, also taking salaries to do so, then what do you do about it?

JohnBooty 2y ago
A fair question to ask. But, whatever the solution is, "firing all of the new blood" seems pretty much the opposite of whatever the solution might be.
- robertlagrant 2y ago
  Is that what's happening? Edit: I didn't see the bit about probation. I think that's probably because you have to start with people on probation if you're making people redundant, right?
  - micromacrofoot 2y ago
    No, they're doing it to probationary employees because they're aren't protected by the same laws that require cause for firing. Political appointees require 30 days notice, rank-and-file must be given cause.
  - JohnBooty 2y ago
    Yeah. They have less protection, less political power to resist. They also presumably generally aren't running important things and filled with tribal knowledge so at least in the short term they are more disposable (if you don't care about the future)
    - robertlagrant 2y ago
      I don't mean that - I mean it's unlikely you can have people on probation stay on while making other people redundant, just from the perspective of regulations or union rules around redundancy.
imoreno 2y ago
Overall, NASA doesn't strike me as a place full of people leeching off government salaries with no benefit. They create valuable stuff. But the article mentions things like committing to suboptimal projects just so some senior workers can keep doing the same job... That sounds pretty bad. Space agencies shouldn't be jobs programs.
- aerostable_slug 2y ago
  Everyone thinks that about agencies like NNSA and NASA, but then once you get under the covers it's a government agency like every other one. There are clerks and contract analysts and HR drones and people who push paper to other people who push paper in a self-perpetuating bureaucratic machine. Same thing with the Intelligence Community: lots of DMV-like cogs that have TS clearances but otherwise are little different than the masses occupying the Social Security office down the street.
  - abenga 2y ago
    Then you fire those "HR drones" along with the ostensibly "useful" people and suddenly you can't reach the "useful" people to rehire them because you fired HR.

alsoforgotmypwd 2y ago

[flagged]