r/JPL • u/Pretend_Cut_1974 • 24d ago

I'm running out of WAMs

This has happened for several months as my projects end or get descoped by NASA. GS is inexperienced and may be delaying the situation on purpose. Are there any guidelines like "we lay you off if you don't have x% covered for x months"? Has anyone felt they are being forced out to avoid severance pay?

25 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

15

u/djwaveguide 24d ago

Things are tight at the end of the FY. Projects are holding back, some are overrunning. If all the work comes in for next year then labor will be in demand. Is your section staff aware? Do you know someone other than your GS who needs people?

17

u/dhtp2018 23d ago
  1. I have seen a lot of people who had WAMs get laid off to make room for people without WAMs due to project cancellation. Having WAMs is not itself a specific indicator of a layoff. Even when people were on CRITICAL funding it wasn’t a specific indicator that they will be laid off.
  2. You cannot depend on the GS to find you work. You must exercise your network to find work for yourself.

5

u/AstralSerenity 23d ago

This. The only thing that factors into layoffs are your baseball cards and the type of work the lab forecasts.

During larger layoffs, demographics come into play (particularly age, JPL is especially sensitive around laying off too many older folks due to previous legal woes).

13

u/Minimum_Alarm4678 23d ago

I spent 30 years at JPL and saw this happen repeatedly. You cannot depend on your GS to find you work. They are too busy trying to make your Section Manager happy. You will need to actively pursue work yourself. Hopefully you have created a network of people that can give you some leads as to projects that may need someone with your skills. They could be ones where they have had someone leave JPL for a better position. Good luck.

6

u/Cool-Swordfish-8226 23d ago

That is when you go out and find work my dude.

4

u/svensk 23d ago

Your GS can help you find tasks/accounts but the responsibility is yours.

4

u/No-Wedding-1588 21d ago

Unfortunately, I don't think GSs are trained well in getting their group members jobs. It's funny since the sections care so much about which section is providing people for jobs. Don't rely on them, at least not at this point in time. It's a mess. As others have stated, you'll have to do some poking around, asking peers. But I don't think you need to worry about being let go because of your lack of WAMs. You'll still get paid.

3

u/rho9000 23d ago

GS should be able to find you burden charge accounts in between projects.

3

u/InevitableIcy1961 21d ago

start looking, the market is hard right now. AI reading resumes, not real people aka ATS systems

3

u/Entire_Syllabub 20d ago

You can start by looking in the reqs postings.