Monday can kiss my ass (Update post #249)

[Sum Dum Gai]

They're bad enough as is, but when you find out you lost your job while driving in on Monday morning... just not right.

No details yet, but we lost the contract rebid. I don't know which company got it, how many of us they'll send offers to and leave in place, or whether or not my name is on that list. As of right now, all I know is that today is the first day of the transition period, where some competitor gets to come in and have us show them how to do our job.

I haven't even had coffee yet.

[Deleted]

OH NO!!!

I am so sorry Dark.

[Deleted]

ugh. get some coffee, stat.

[muttleynfelix]

I'm so sorry to hear that.

[Sum Dum Gai]

I'll be fine. I always am. I probably should dust off the resume though, just in case.

[shanendoah]

Dark: Do they even have the option to let you go? When my brother was doing similar type work, it didn't matter who had the contract. They weren't allowed to change personnel below the executive level with the contract change. The reason was that there were so few people who were qualified to do the work and had the clearances that they would just end up hiring the same people in- so the contracts stated they weren't allowed to get rid of staff (not even site managers).
I know you're working in a field that's a little bigger than sattelite control, but I'd think that there would be similar provisions in these government contracts. Too many layoffs leads to a serious disruption in the work.
Anyway, I hope that you still do have a job, but also have to say, it never hurts to dust off the resume. I need to do that myself, as one of the budget scenarios I offered up this year included laying me off (yes, that's right, I proposed laying myself off- I would get 24 weeks severence).

[taz157]

Oct 1, 2012 11:40:06 GMT -5 @beerwench said:

OH NO!!!

I am so sorry Dark.

[Sum Dum Gai]

Do they even have the option to let you go?

Yeah. Kind of. We're a pretty big contract, so I'm sure they wrote into their bid that they'd keep a pretty significant portion of us. Unless they have almost 100 current employees sitting around with nothing to do, they're going to have to hire some of us to fill the contract. No single person is contractually protected though.

[swamp]

Oct 1, 2012 11:54:00 GMT -5 taz157 said:

Oct 1, 2012 11:40:06 GMT -5 @beerwench said:

OH NO!!!

I am so sorry Dark.

[wvugurl26]

Ouch Dark! That is a shitty Monday. Dust off the resume. If the new company wants to hire you, great, if not you are ready.

[zibazinski]

Oh, no, that's just awful. So sorry, dark. Loop, dust out your resume! I'm sure it will be alright for you.

[zibazinski]

Geez, I was going to say what a great Monday I am having but I think I won't.

[mmhmm]

Eeew! That's no way to start a work-week, dark! I'll just wish the best for you, whatever that might turn out to be.

[zibazinski]

It's that dark pony. It's all it's fault.

[Sum Dum Gai]

Geez, I was going to say what a great Monday I am having but I think I won't.

It's all good. Even my news isn't universally bad. Whatever company won the bid is probably celebrating like crazy right now. We're an 8 figure contract.

[zibazinski]

Can you go there?

[Deleted]

I don't understand, if all the staff is the same what makes the bids different? And why doesn't the government hire you directly and cut out the middleman?

[Deleted]

Oct 1, 2012 12:11:14 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Can you go there?

LOL

[Sum Dum Gai]

And why doesn't the government hire you directly and cut out the middleman?

According to Uncle Sam it's cheaper to do it this way. That's always smelled suspiciously like BS to me, but that's the reasoning.

I don't understand, if all the staff is the same what makes the bids different?

The new company might be planning to keep us, but at 80% of our current pay, so they came in 20% lower than we did. Or something like that.

[Deleted]

Oct 1, 2012 12:13:19 GMT -5 @justaposter said:

I don't understand, if all the staff is the same what makes the bids different? And why doesn't the government hire you directly and cut out the middleman?

Why does any organization subcontract to any other organization?

[zibazinski]

Damned if I know. That's why I'm a schoolteacher.

[Loopdilou]

I would just like to say... I told you so

[zibazinski]

?

[Sum Dum Gai]

No, no, no. You said I was going to get fired. I didn't get fired. If anything I would get laid off. That's different.

[kittensaver]

OMG Dark that sucks! So sorry to hear this! :-(

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"According to Uncle Sam it's cheaper to do it this way. That's always smelled suspiciously like BS to me, but that's the reasoning.":::...

Yeah, this is one of those pieces of misinformation that needs to die. A contractor might be cheaper for a 6 months temporary assignment. Keeping contractors around for decades (yes, I know some of those) and not making them permanent employees costs the government significantly more.

Good luck Dark. I know here, we lost a good number of developers who had knowledge that it will take others years to learn. But there are still plenty of managers sitting around now, with nothing to manage.

[Deleted]

Oct 1, 2012 12:26:22 GMT -5 Loopdilou said:

I would just like to say... I told you so

Did you get a paying job yet?

[justme]

Oct 1, 2012 12:13:19 GMT -5 @justaposter said:

I don't understand, if all the staff is the same what makes the bids different? And why doesn't the government hire you directly and cut out the middleman?

Because then the government can't let go of people when they are no longer needed. One office we contract with currently has a bunch of people sitting on their ass while they wait for contracts to end or the legal team to come up with reasons why contractors can't do it so they can actually work. Oh, and then a lot of the time project managers still keep on the contractors to clean up the work the government employees do.

Also, with the retirement and health plans they can be more expensive. Additionally, most government contracts anymore are firm fixed price - meaning the contract has to get it done and if they run over too bad eat into your profits. If they are government employees and the project was underestimate, they just go to the government bank account and get more money. (and almost everything the government does is underestimated)

[Deleted]

Oct 1, 2012 11:38:47 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

They're bad enough as is, but when you find out you lost your job while driving in on Monday morning... just not right.

No details yet, but we lost the contract rebid. I don't know which company got it, how many of us they'll send offers to and leave in place, or whether or not my name is on that list. As of right now, all I know is that today is the first day of the transition period, where some competitor gets to come in and have us show them how to do our job.

I haven't even had coffee yet.

usually the new company has to take anywhere from 50-75% of the incumbants (sp?) so as long as you weren't at the bottom of the barrel, you should be ok....

Is this your first contract change? I've been through several and while changing companies is a pain, it's always worked out.

[zibazinski]

Good luck!