Lab's changes cause staff anxiety

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Dec 15, 2007 | by Betsy Mason

With a new corporate manager at the helm, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory has entered a period of uncertainty unlike any other in its 55-year history with the University of California, putting employees on edge and threatening to erode the lab's technical prowess.

The federal government predicted that adding private industry to the management mix would result in "more science for the same money."

Instead, higher costs led to 500 layoffs shortly after the new management's transition in October, confirming the worst suspicions of some and further roiling the lab's once-comfortable culture.

"Fear" is the word Jim Wolford, a computer scientist at the lab for 27 years, used to summarize the mood.

"I certainly haven't experienced anything like this before," he said.

The number of scientists and engineers leaving each year has steadily increased from 141 in 2002, the year before the decision to put the lab's contract up for bid, to 278 in 2007. And Livermore may lose more brain power in the wake of the changeover as scientists, content for decades, now consider other options for the first time in their careers.

Factors driving this lowered morale include the threat of more layoffs, diminishing benefits and questions about the future of the nuclear weapons program.

During the bidding for the contract to run Livermore lab -- one of the Bay Area's largest employers, with about 8,000 workers -- the ability to attract and hold on to the country's best scientists, never a problem for UC, was repeatedly described as essential to the lab's future.

"Recruiting and retaining the very best is, above all else, the critical issue for this institution if it's to continue to do what it does for the country," lab director George Miller said in an interview with MediaNews in October. "It's the people who make the difference."

But the federal government was more focused on the security, safety and accounting lapses at Los Alamos National Laboratory that prompted the Department of Energy to put the contracts for both nuclear weapons labs up for bid. The change in management to Lawrence Livermore National Security LLC, a company jointly run by UC and several companies led by Bechtel International, was billed as a path to tighter security, better safety and cost savings though greater efficiency.

That optimistic assessment stands in stark contrast to the reality on the ground at Livermore lab today. Eight weeks after the new company took the reins, the change from a public entity to a private company has resulted in $130 million in increased costs. And potential federal budget cuts to the tune of $150 million could necessitate as many as 300 more job cuts as soon as January.

But Miller sees a bright future for the lab. He says he is confident the new management team will be able to overcome the increased costs by implementing private industry practices.

"But," he said, "it doesn't happen overnight."

Some of the lab's scientists, though, lamenting the loss of their gold-plated UC benefits and the direct connection to a prestigious academic institution, are starting to look around for the first time in their careers.

"I did hesitate when a colleague sent me a job announcement," said physicist David Dearborn, who has been at the lab for 34 years and works on nuclear weapons design. "I normally wouldn't have even looked at it."

Several other scientists who spoke to MediaNews are considering looking for jobs or actively pursuing opportunities outside the lab but did not want their names printed out of concern for their current jobs.

"I'm very open to opportunities," said a scientist with 31 years of experience.

"What I'd really like to do is end up in academia. That takes time to engineer, so I'm working on that."

"If I see an opportunity, I'm not going to just let it pass by," said a physicist with almost a decade at the lab. "I never even considered looking around two years ago before this contract thing came up."

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, which is still run solely by UC, has seen an uptick in hiring of technical employees from Livermore lab from about seven in 2002 to at least 14 in 2007. And several departments at UC Berkeley have noticed more interest from lab employees.

Judith Jones, head of human resources at the Space Sciences Laboratory at UC Berkeley, said the department hasn't had much success in the past at luring specialized scientists away from Livermore lab. But now, they are starting to get some bites.

"I guess they're weighing the retirement benefits and taking a second look at us," she said.

Jeffrey Reimer, chairman of the UC Berkeley chemistry department, also is getting more interest.

"I have seen in the past few months a number of applications to my department from Livermore lab for a number of technical positions, which I'm not accustomed to," he said. "It's unusual."

Deciding to work at Livermore lab always has represented a trade- off for scientists. Many gave up chances to work in other realms of academia where they can freely publish and discuss their work in public. Likewise, many often turned down more traditional industry jobs where they could make far more money.