Hiring Freeze - DoD contract in Huntsville (mortgage, house)

[saljo]

Any folks out there hearing about DoD contract hiring freezes in Huntsville?

A friend told me his manager informed him this week they are now on a hiring freeze and no back fills (no filling positions when someone leaves ).

He is a contractor on a DoD contract not related to Gates mentioned cuts a few weeks ago. He said it’s a solid contract with no issues. The only thing his manager would say is its due to things getting tight.

He is wondering come this fall (2010 fiscal) if there maybe plans to cut and that’s why the freeze. Again, it’s a long term contract not related to the announced cuts Gates mentioned.

Has anyone else heard of freezes occurring in Huntsville on DoD contracts?

[mm42]

I haven't heard anything about a freeze. However, one of the points in Gates speech was that he wants to reduce the contractor work force substantially and increase the government work force. Whether it is actually happening now or not, in the long run Gates said his plan was to reduce the support contractors from 39 percent (current level) to 26 percent (pre-2001 level) of the work force.

In particular, the proposed budget would sharply reduce the number of contractors who help the Pentagon oversee and manage its vast weapons-buying apparatus following a string of reports chronicling cost overruns and other problems. Of the 13,000 private contractors to be replaced in the coming year, 2,500 of them would be in the acquisition workforce. Of the 39,000 workers over five years, 20,000 would be in acquisitions. "We are right-sizing the defense acquisition workforce so we can improve our contract oversight and get a better deal for the taxpayers," said Shay Assad, the Pentagon's director of defense procurement and acquisition policy.

washingtonpost.com

[saljo]

WoW, I forgot about the replacement of contractors. Do you think they would freeze contractor hiring to start replacing slots?

Thanks for the link, I came across this link talking about Obama's Sat. radio address, he talks about cutting programs. When does the final full federal budget come out, May?

http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/18/news/economy/obama_address.reut/index.htm?postversion=2009041813 (broken link)

[Toymeister]

Originally Posted by saljo

Any folks out there hearing about DoD contract hiring freezes in Huntsville?

Again, it’s a long term contract not related to the announced cuts Gates mentioned.

Long term contract or not it is a simple matter in any contract to exercise a T4C (termination for convenience). There are settlement expenses in T4Cs but so what.

It is a fallacy that contract labor is cheaper than civil servants, they are not. Like a mortgage holder that bought a house that was a strech, if you have built your life based upon the assumption that you as a contracted person can continue to get better than civil servant wages then you were just fooling yourself. It is time to get honest with yourself.

Now that is not saying that contractors are not hard working people or they will be easily replaced but clearly this is how the current administration wants to save cash.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by saljo

Any folks out there hearing about DoD contract hiring freezes in Huntsville?

A friend told me his manager informed him this week they are now on a hiring freeze and no back fills (no filling positions when someone leaves ).

He is a contractor on a DoD contract not related to Gates mentioned cuts a few weeks ago. He said it’s a solid contract with no issues. The only thing his manager would say is its due to things getting tight.

He is wondering come this fall (2010 fiscal) if there maybe plans to cut and that’s why the freeze. Again, it’s a long term contract not related to the announced cuts Gates mentioned.

Has anyone else heard of freezes occurring in Huntsville on DoD contracts?

I understand the anxiety with any potential rumors of job losses, but based on the info you provided it would be just rumors & speculations. Personally, I'd encourage NOT to put a lot of energy into this.

There are a number of factors that go into this 'hiring freeze'.

1. Nature of contract. (body shop ?)
2. Contract funding profile (negotiated & definitized ?) -- Is a certain part of work, e.g, design, are completed and moving to next phase?
3. Company-driven decision? --- Is the Contractor company itself anticipating a "risk" therefore decide not to back-fill, until the contract for next FY is negotiated & definitized?

Government agencies & private contractors do go on occasional "hiring freeze" for several months for budgetary/ planning/ gawd-knows-whatever reasons, then re-open up the hiring process.

So until your friend get more info for this specific situation, I would just take a 'wait-n-see' attitude. Now if EVERY company in town is having a 'hiring freeze', then it's something to think about but so far that's not the case.

[financelife]

I would say there are hints of freezes, but they won't call it that. And I know for a fact that some DoD agencies have "stolen" contractor employees after the contractor spent time and money to train the employee. Gates has just increased that risk for companies.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by financelife

And I know for a fact that some DoD agencies have "stolen" contractor employees after the contractor spent time and money to train the employee..

I don't get this mentality. Who is "stealing" employees? Are these "stolen employees" have no free will, not capable of making decisions for their own career choices? Are they ornamental objects not capable to think for themselves?

If company "A" hires employees away from company "B", are they stealing?

As far as "....after the contractor spent time and money to train the employee....", are the contractor lossing the money spent to train the employee? Where do you think those money came from, if not from the contract itself? There maybe different "color" of money but rest assured that your company is making money for every hour you bill to a contract.

As an employee, do you have an unquestionable loyalty to your employer, so you will not be "stolen"? Will you turn down a promotion, higher pay, or whatever your career motivations are (in the case of becoming a civil servant --- easier hour, less work, & an opportunity to boss around contractors, ha ha! ), just so you will stay with your current employer? Only if your employer is treating you right and/or if it's costing your pension/ vacation benefits to change company. How do you feel if you receive a layoff notice after you turned down many better opportunities in the past because of your 'unquestionable loyalty' to this company? Got passed on several promotion opportunities? Below average merit increases? That uneasy feeling when your project funding is coming to an end and there's no new projects in the horizon?

I do not consider myself as a 'stolen employee', but more aligned in the view of 'strategic partnership based on mutual business interests' between me and my employer

[Huckleberry3911948]

DOD is an anaconda wrapped around DC, DC is trying to get away.

[financelife]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

I don't get this mentality. Who is "stealing" employees? Are these "stolen employees" have no free will, not capable of making decisions for their own career choices? Are they ornamental objects not capable to think for themselves?

If company "A" hires employees away from company "B", are they stealing?

As far as "....after the contractor spent time and money to train the employee....", are the contractor lossing the money spent to train the employee? Where do you think those money came from, if not from the contract itself? There maybe different "color" of money but rest assured that your company is making money for every hour you bill to a contract.

It is a business risk. You as an EMPLOYEE can be very happy with the scenario, but the company loses a resource.

[tammie2]

If the business treats their employees well, keeps up with salary and benefit trends, then it isn't an issue. Employees leave for a reason, I have yet to be able to recruit a happy, well paid individual from a company.