Los Alamos fears brain drain

[struggle4progress]

Spike in retirements creates worry

By Sue Vorenberg
Tribune Reporter
June 4, 2005

<snip> The lab employs about 8,200 people, mostly highly skilled scientists. Of those, 39 percent are 50 or older - meaning retirement age, Rickman said.

In 2003, 235 people retired, or about 3 percent of the work force. In 2004, 251 retired, or about 3.1 percent of the work force, Rickman said.

"For 2005 we're projecting 4.6 percent of the work force, or about 380 people," Rickman said. "But we just don't have the June data yet, which will be telling. That's when most people retire, and that will tell the tale. It could be better; it could be worse. But it looks now like a definite increase."

The numbers are even more worrisome because about 41 percent of the retirees are coming from the lab's nuclear weapons groups and 13.5 percent are coming from threat-reduction groups - specialized areas that are part of Los Alamos' core mission, Rickman said. <snip>

http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/nw_state/article/0,2564,ALBQ_19863_3830664,00.html

[cornermouse]

1. No problem.

They'll just outsource it to China...or maybe India? Everyone knows they're smarter and harder working than those stupid, lazy American workers anyway, right?

:sarcasm:

[rurallib]

2. or perhaps some of those Mexican illegals?

They can be hired and paid peanuts and the government don't care one whit.

[fasttense]

3. This is what happens when you use religion to

suffocate scientific fact and preach pseudo science. The right wing Christian wackos have been criticizing scientific research and fact for the last 25 years. Is it any wonder kids don't chose it as a profession. Lets hope our children's children have a different opinion.

[Igel]

4. Wrong place for that argument.

It's mostly administrative and security problems. The researchers were kept on a loose leash; the leash has been tightening for a while. They have it tough.

On the other hand, who retires when they hit 50? That ol' 20 years service anniversary, I guess. Part of the horrible conditions they work under. Like many U. Calif. people that VERIPed in the early '90s, they'll go elsewhere, collecting retirement and salaries for 10-15 years or more.

My steelworker parents would have retired when they were 40 under that kind of system. Yeah. Right.

[cornermouse]

5. Who retires when they hit 50?

Federal prison workers and military personnel to name a couple.

[Igel]

6. And disgrunted Los Alamos employees. n/t