Age discrimination at contractors NAS/PAX

[BernieP]

I've seen companies that have had the same contracts for 20+ years lose their contracts this year for the smaller companies with smaller salaries. There are going to be some folks hit with major pay cuts just to keep the job they've had for decades.

Problem #1, the larger companies, the established companies, have higher costs associated with more employees and better benefits.
Problem #2 , some of these companies want a higher profit margin on the contract,
Problem #3, the government has lowered the bar on the technical evaluation to basically allow the competition to be low bid wins.
The companies that are winning, staffed up by reaching out beyond SoMD to communities where unemployment was high and wages were low. If the incumbent won't accept the pay cut, they will find someone who will.
Problem is they are having trouble finding qualified people, in some cases they are having trouble just finding people.

 

[steppinthrax]

Maybe it was your suave sophistication that merited your higher pay rate?

NOPE,

They pay me higher for my skills, expertise and overall commercial value!!!

 

[bilbur]

I've seen companies that have had the same contracts for 20+ years lose their contracts this year for the smaller companies with smaller salaries. There are going to be some folks hit with major pay cuts just to keep the job they've had for decades.

This happened to the contractor I used to work for, they lost a big contract they had for over 20 years. The new company that took over the contract offered the subject matter experts that have been with the contract since the beginning a job at a 30% pay cut. I think it is kind of crappy, these people have done everything right, got an education, stayed out of trouble, and worked their way to the top only to be penalized for making a fair salary for the knowledge they have. Its funny, all these massive cuts to military spending all the while people on welfare have seen any ware from 25% to 32% increase (different sites have different figures) in the money and free services they get in the last 10 years. Most of the people I know, myself included, haven't seen any real raise in over 4 years. Seems to me it is backwards and the wrong people are getting rewarded. This is why I save everything I can now because who knows when the bottom will drop out.

If the government really wants to save money on military spending they should stop penalizing contractors for not using all the money in their materials contracts. People that work for a government contractor probably know what I am taking about. If they would reward them for coming in under budget instead of penalizing them the savings would probably be in the billions.

Sorry for the long rant, its Friday, I have had a long week, and I am in a bad mood. Things will be better tomorrow.

 

[Christy]

Problem is they are having trouble finding qualified people, in some cases they are having trouble just finding people.

I hope this continues to be the case. It is total BS for the highly skilled and experienced individuals to have to take a substantial cut in pay and benefits. It is scary to me, that unqualified individuals are being put into some pretty significant positions. It is going to cost the government a #### ton more in the end, but that doesn't really matter because at that point, whatever genius made the decisions for today will just be promoted up the chain and it will be some other poor sap that has to come in and deal with the mess later on down the road.

 

[glhs837]

Yep, I know of two PMAs that went this way, lowest bid, and the horror stories of folks being told to either take a position with the winning bidder at 30%-40% less or walk. I've asked around to see if those PMA-s have seen a difference, and have been told the low cost approach is now making it's downside apparent, and that a lot of people are expecting a backlash, where the senior govt folks are going to simply not accept that. Like buying your tools from Ollies, if it don't get the job done, then you have saved nothing.

 

[steppinthrax]

always, always, always aim high. My ex recently did this again when he accepted a position. He's getting raped with the new job, and I told him "I told you so" dummy

TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE,

When they want you, they want you. A few thousand here and there isn't going to make a difference. When you negotiate salary AIM HIGH. The worse they are going to say is NO, then negotiate from that. If you want to play hard ball simply say I won't take it then. You'd be surprised when they call you back to re-negotiate again. You know why, because it's going to cost them more to start the process all over again. The customer wants you and it will make the contracting company look bad when you turn down a job due to money. Then the customer has to re-interview again and they will ask themselves "why is this contracting company putting us through this BS".

 

[DoWhat]

NOPE,

They pay me higher for my skills, expertise and overall commercial value!!!

Stud.

 

[SEABREEZE 1957]

Problem #2 , some of these companies want a higher profit margin on the contract

That is Problem #1.

Companies that hire people at $70K a year & charge the Government (and us taxpayers) $200K a year for that person. Understand overhead and benefits, but the only one benefiting from that 'mark-up' is the company and its shareholders.

 

[BOP]

NOPE,

They pay me higher for my skills, expertise and overall commercial value!!!

And your keen sense of humor.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

There are strict rules on profit margins on government contracts. Low risk contracts such as service contracts have very low margins.

Where the penny pinching comes in is that many companies will underbid a contract to win it and then they have to work with reduced funds. There is simply less money to go around than there use to be. My office has been affected by it and government employees have been transferred to jobs that had openings simply because there was no money to pay them. Several thought they were going to have to take vacation because they had no numbers to charge to at one point.

http://www.acq.osd.mil/mibp/docs/ida_paper_p-4284_revised.pdf

 

[Carole]

Age Discrimination

Yes, you are right. AGE DISCRIMINATION IS SO WRONG ON SO MANY LEVELS. The person I am writing about doesn't know I'm writing. But when something is SO WRONG & the attitude is "it's wrong, but that's just the way it it" that really burns me up. Apathy is the start of a slippery slide down for society.

 

[acommondisaster]

A good female friend of mine was 'invited' to become a government employee when the contract she was on was ending. She jumped at the chance, because of the uncertainty of contracting life. The first thing she did after she went govvie was stop dying her hair. She said she no longer had to worry about "looking young" and no longer had to worry about competing with all the younger people for positions. Anyone can tell you that it's even worse for women of a certain age than it is for men. Case in point: I recently went to a tech job fair, resume in hand, and the first table I stopped at, the young woman sized me up before reaching for my resume and told me she was sorry, but they didn't have any admin assistant openings. I guess someone my age and gender can't be technically astute.

 

[acommondisaster]

Did the company name start with W and end with e?

I work in an workcenter where there are about 5 contracts and probably twice that many contracting companies; the story is pretty much the same throughout.

 

[PrchJrkr]

I didn't know it happened to other companies as well - Wyle came to mind because they had the E-2D contract forever and a LOT of our personnel went to the contractor that won the bid.
You mentioned that your resume was pretty much "rejected" at a job fair - you were looking for a position that was admin support. I did the same thing at a job fair several years back, same position as you, same results. They did have a spot where you could leave your resume though. Several years went by and I didn't think much about it but out of the blue I got a phone call from some small contractor about my resume and a job interview. So you really never know what can happen.

Reading comprehension is your friend.

 

[PrchJrkr]

Guess you're right - I have no idea what you're talking about.

Reread post #33 carefully and get back to me.

 

[acommondisaster]

I didn't know it happened to other companies as well - Wyle came to mind because they had the E-2D contract forever and a LOT of our personnel went to the contractor that won the bid.
You mentioned that your resume was pretty much "rejected" at a job fair - you were looking for a position that was admin support. I did the same thing at a job fair several years back, same position as you, same results. They did have a spot where you could leave your resume though. Several years went by and I didn't think much about it but out of the blue I got a phone call from some small contractor about my resume and a job interview. So you really never know what can happen.

I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. She hadn't looked at my resume, she just assumed since I'm older and female that I was looking for a job as an admin assistant. I've got a pretty respectable technical background and work history with the education and certs to back it up. It's an additional pitfall of being female and older than the average job seeker. Even once they see the resume, there's a feeling that I probably aren't as technical as a man. :-/

I've actually been very fortunate; though this last round of "find a new contract" was more stressful than in the past, my company found me a couple of temporary assignments while I looked for a permanent place to land within the company. Though it didn't keep me from looking outside the company at what might be available, I was able to make a lateral move within the company; this month I'll have been with them for 18 years. What I did find, in the few job fairs I attended, was that bigger companies were not offering the money that the smaller subs were offering, however a lot of the small start-up type subs did not have 401k's, health benefits, etc.

 

[vince77]

There are plenty of jobs, you just have to be willing to commute outside of Southern Maryland. Being tied in to working at the "base" is the equivalent of working in a coal miner town, it's the only game in town. They know it, you know it, you have little leverage.

 

[Curious99]

Interesting thread and I’ve heard similar stories about West Marine and Best Buy reducing costs with wholesale firing and rehiring at lower rates. The media is full of stories about stagnant fortunes for the middle class.

 

[edinsomd]

Glad my job is dependent upon what I know, which can only be come by through a long and varied work history

Right on, Brother! And my sheep's skin from Airplane U doesn't hurt, either.

 

[edinsomd]

You can be replaced. We all can be replaced.

If you can't be replaced, you'll never be promoted.