April 23, 2003

Why people are retiring

A recent letter suggested that the unusually high number of retirements this month is really due to poor treatment of employees by the Lab.

I'd like to point out that if that is indeed the case, then there should be no statistically significant difference between the number of retirees this month and that of any other month, since the Lab presumably mistreats its employees equally every month.

Many of my colleagues have retired or are retiring. They are fed up with the Department of Energy's mistreatment of its contractors. The lack of [a] straight answer from DOE regarding how it will protect their retirement benefits in case of contract change was the last straw. They recognize that the University of California benefits are pretty darn good -- who knows whether the next guy would be as good -- and they are doing what anyone who's worked hard all his life would do: take the money and run. Most of them do not want to retire yet, but at a certain age one wants certainty. A good number of them are coming back as contractors, presumably to take some more abuse and mistreatment from the Lab.

There may be brain drain, loss of capability, etc., but I think the most alarming aspect of the mass retirement is that it is a vote of no confidence of DOE's management. Not that DOE really cares.

--Karen Pao