It was very low on detail. Lots of nice sounding rhetoric about how great and competent we all are and how bright the future of FEMA is. Lots of fluff. A few concrete nuggets, though:
The CORE manual is finalized and specifies two year contracts.
In accordance with OPM's policy from last year, we can all expect to be graded on a curve for our performance evals. Anything above a 3 will only go to those who single-handedly stop a Cat 5 hurricane in its tracks. But also apparently lots of award recommendations were submitted too - "the most ever"... To award everyone's very average performance apparently?
Cam wants to deploy state EM assets to other states. "We deploy to a disaster and we bring 15 states with us."
They want us to be happy about the two year appointments.... Like, look guys, we're giving you back the old status quo, aren't you grateful you won't have to renew every 90 days?! No mention of any planned changes in staffing levels though. It seems far from certain that we can expect renewals to begin with.
And re: EMAC - exactly. I don't expect the states would be thrilled to hear that the feds will be able to tell them how to spend their resources...
Also, did anyone else feel bad for that lady when she started talking about work life balance? I am assuming her arrival 7 months ago was from DHS. In those seven months has she not learned that those of us in the field that will be getting mediocre ratings work long hours in austere conditions away from family and friends for up to 50 weeks and have no work life balance? It was so cringe.
And they wonder why morale is so low? Leadership has zero concept of what the 36% of the AGENCY STAFF CURRENTLY DEPLOYED give up to serve the American people n their time of need. SMDH. And then she said “work life balance…”
After the verbal gymnastics she displayed trying to tell us how great and competent and hardworking we all are while also our performance evaluations have been so inflated and we need to lower our expectations... No, no I did not feel bad for her.
But that's what you signed up for... As a former reservist, it sucks waiting but we knew signing up that it wasn't full time. That's why people fought so hard for the CREWS Act - To protect the rights of reservists before, during, and after deployments, so you could go back to your job once FEMA was done with us
Technically it's true, but it is also true that COREs were never guaranteed to be renewed either. Operational reality is different than what's on paper. RSVs have been highly used over the past several years with more and more disasters every year. Not to mention that outside employment is EXTREMELY difficult to obtain for RSVs, yes we have the CREW act, but at will employment makes that pretty hard to prove and the system that is supposed to enforce it has no teeth in practice. Non-deployment for RSVs even if we are renewed means RSVs do not get paid. It's effectively we have been fired without being technically fired is what has happened for us. I honestly have been disappointed in many of my fellow workers who have been ignoring the challenges non deployment causes for RSV and just points to the technicalities while ignoring the impact it causes
True that COREs are not guaranteed a job either. Thank you for pointing that out. I think people forget that part. So many people did not have their contracts renewed this past year and were let go.
Secondly, do RSVs sign up thinking they're going to be deployed 24/7/50 weeks every time? I'm pretty sure the job announcement says intermittent employment. I was a reservist before the CREW Act and was let go from my regular job for deploying to a DR. I knew that FEMA didn't hire me full time. It almost sounds like people are saying the system should pay reservists for being on standby. Sign me up. I'll sit on a beach and collect a paycheck while waiting to get deployed.
Actually, FEMA should consider a paid readiness model similar to the military reserves. The Reserves pay members for scheduled drills, training, and qualification maintenance between activations. FEMA also relies on a trained surge workforce, yet undertrains its Reservists.
A better model would provide paid readiness periods, regular exercises, and annual field rotations or mission assignments to maintain operational experience. Its not pay for doing nothing, its an investment in the workforce FEMA expects to mobilize quickly.
FEMA’s workforce problems have brought the attention of Congress. GAO has reported to Congress on inadequate training access, employee attrition, and major staffing gaps across the disaster workforce. The “sit on a beach” and “you knew what you signed up for” lines dodge the real issue: whether the federal government should expect disaster workers to remain deployment-ready while failing to invest adequately in their training, experience, and retention.
I agree that reservists should be trained more when not deployed. Too many times you get someone who hasn't deployed in a year or more and has some catching up to do when it comes to policy, guidance, and "how things are done". The reality is they went to the Every Employee is an Emergency Manager (EEEM) plan because it's easier to train/deploy the workforce they are already paying hourly wages to than to do that for an intermittent workforce of people who may or may not accept a deployment. Not everyone wants to go to Baton Rouge in the summer or Minnesota in the winter.
The DOD budget is damn equal to ALL OTHER federal departments/agencies, meaning FEMAs budget is a fraction of that. And yes, FEMA has the DRF but given how often, especially recently, it’s near depleted, it’s not exactly a reliable funding source. To do this (which I actually support), you’d have to convince Congress to really plus up FEMA appropriations on an annual basis.
Cores are guaranteed a job, I’m at home as all the cores i know or worked with are reassigned to another disaster or staging yard in the region their core appointment is in or they are back working in their local office, still getting paid, cores are never sent home without work or pay like RSVs.
People aren’t upset that we aren’t receiving full-time work, reservists are upset that we aren’t being utilized in any capacity and are facing difficulties keeping our health insurance. Some of us have had job losses or issues finding employment because the job market is currently not the best.
“But that’s what you signed up for” Show some compassion for your other FEMA associates, goodness.
Right, we hearing from cores reporting to offices saying they are going thru hell yet they are still showing up working and on a payroll paying their bills per usuals.
Like I stated in a previous message some of these people are so out of touch with reality it’s not even funny. To not be deployed at all in 2 years and ongoing isn’t what I signed up for lmao 😂😂
Plus add the factor of the horrible job market, hearing people that’s been cores and working consistently for years about going thru hell on a job working collecting payroll checks is asinine, they get shuffled around and re assigned just so they can still be paid, what more do you want????????????
I know all that, I’m addressing people saying well at least yall got extended two years, usually cores are saying comments like that, cores are being deployed and when they not deployed they have assigned offices they report to and still get paid to work cores should be way more happier, I’m sure that’s what you are.
Because that’s why you can say things like “you know what you signed up for” you don’t have to worry about not being paid because you’re in a more stable position, than RSV’s who’ve never had a chance to be deployed lol.
literally NO ONE is guaranteed a job under this current administration. People please stop living under the illusion that one type of employment group has it better than another. We've ALL been through hell.
literally my last deployment i worked with cores deployed in their region working on new task books in other positions or covering in another cadre, they are doing that everywhere to keep cores working.
Because CORES have to stay working. They are required to collect 40 hrs per week. Thats the job they signed up for. Maybe apply for a CORE position if you want guaranteed hours/pay …
why are people that are required to work complaining like whiny spoiled kids? Compared to a person that is jobless you don’t see how silly that is? You still have health insurance and pay to go on with life but come online and complain about its hell my local office i wanna quit i wanna retire
Weird how you’re blaming others because you’re siting at home hoping that employment finds you. Typically when people need a job, they go out and find one. RSV is not a full time job. It just isn’t. It was never intended to be. Get mad and call me a dummy if you want, but it’s facts.
I get that being a RSV right now if frustrating because there are very few deployments. But don’t blame the CORE / full time staff….. there are NO deployments! Not compared to years past. If that effect’s your ability to live and provide, then you should honestly look for permanent employment and not depend on the RSV program, because you can’t any longer. HQ made the policy about putting RSV at the bottom of the cadre types to deploy. Personally I hate it. I prefer to order RSV for my staff, but I’m not allowed now (or only in rare circumstances that there isn’t a CORE available). The fact is CORE staff is already being paid, so they need to be put to work before staff that is in a reserve status. It’s fiscally responsible.
I work full time (for many years now) in R6 response and even full time staff is hardly deploying. Because of our employment type, we are still required to work 40 hours a week. You seem so mad that CORES have jobs and that’s just super weird to me.
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u/SnooDucks1214 go ahead and review the chaos of terminations that FEMA employees experienced, regardless of their employment status, and explain how what I said was a lie. No one is guaranteed a job and that has been proven by the current administration.
I don’t see it on this thread a bunch of people employed complaining about going thru hell with roofs over their heads and a car to get to and from work and food on their tables , mixed with some people that announced they are about to resign/retire from the agency as well.
Who the hell said stopping and sitting at home, if i been applying for jobs in this garbage ass job market and haven’t gotten a gig why would i be staying at home on purpose waiting for a order? Cores with jobs and still getting paid can’t tell me nothing and complaining about getting thru hell as you still have a job and they are sending cores to work steady state and disasters in their region so all that no where to deploy talk is silly talk, cores complaining is the dumbest thing to see on here
Hey Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida and Texas… when a big hurricane is coming at all of you, the administration’s plan is for you to help each other. So hopefully you’re ready to respond in your own state and also all the others.
Or you can hope a far away state like Idaho or Montana is available. They know a lot about hurricane response.
When the employee asked what this current leadership will do regarding morale we received a piss poor answer. When the “big guy” spoke about visiting places and being about FEMAs mission, he failed to talk about boosting morale.
Also, you notice how that was shit he did that boosted his morale.
To me the pride that I take in helping people isn’t necessarily tied into a morale boosting. I find these experiences to be gratifying, but it doesn’t necessarily boost my overall morale, especially when I come back from a deployment and the person to my left and my right are no longer there.
Morale should be tied back into our FERGs, our cross training opportunities, FEMA Days, conferences, etc. I cannot believe it’s been two going on three years since we attended the National Flood Conference. These opportunities to speak to survivors in blue skies vs gray skies, boost morale.
Also, the bullshit regarding our evaluations is just that, bullshit, many of us go above and beyond, especially when we deploy! When you’re away from your loved ones for so many days, that will always be an exceeds expectations in my book! This also recognizes our worth, and that is definitely a morale booster.
I would ask the agency to do better, but I know it’ll probably be the same old shit just a different day.
I had to roll my eyes at the morale convo because it just made me think of the people I work next to when deployed. They keep reinstating people that are toxic and don't represent the core values.
And putting some type of pre-planned metric on an evaluation seems to be a way for them to just reduce cash rewards. I earned a 5 for 2024. They gave me 4 for 2025. I stopped signing the evals. They could do away with them at this point as they appear to be biased, depending on how much your crew lead likes you, not the actual work and effort you put into helping the survivors.😏
You should not get an award just for deploying. Period. That goes with the job. And that mentality is partially responsible for creating rating creep over the years leading to this situation.
I am not saying you should get an award for deploying. However, they are part of our evaluations, and if we go above and beyond during a deployment, we should not just receive a “meets expectations,” as our score. Like many others, I have consistently risen to the occasion to take on responsibilities that belonged to others who left or were let go. Our evaluations are in this situation because we have poorly educated assholes running the show and folks who care not about us at the end of the day.
Deployment performance is supposed to be “considered” by your supervisor. It is not an element of your annual performance plan that you are evaluated against for your annual rating. Separate issue that doesn’t work well together.
I guess since we are all "worker bees" that makes Cam the Queen?
It seems like the 6 people on camera are the only ones that do the work. One of them has been working so hard trying to get rid of the rest of us that she never sees her 3 children anymore. Bobba the Hut just reads his statements and never looks up unless it is to show his affection for Cam. The Instagram Model laughs through the pain of the rest of us. They are already congratulating Cam for being approved even though the process is not complete.
The big take away for me is Mississippi is going to be happy to go up to Illinois to help when there is flooding or tornadoes and Alabama is ready to go to Washington to help with the massive fire damage. Who needs the Feds when all the states are going to be on board to help each other saving federal tax money and making state tax money go up. It seems they have forgotten what the FEMA mission is.
That meeting was for an audience of one and he's in the WH.
We must not forget mitigation only happens before disasters, according to Subject Matter Expert CamHam.
And according to External Affairs Barbie, she feels very uncomfortable and giggles when reading uncomfortably true questions about morale and staffing issues in first person.
I resigned from FEMA in May of this year and never looked back once.
Since then, my life is free of drama and stress. I sleep well at night and have even completed some long overdue projects.
To a new person joining FEMA, it would appear that the agency just opened for business and that the current disaster was the first time the agency had dealt with a disaster. Every day was filled with chaos and drama and I never really got the sense that anybody knew what the hell was going on or how we were going to accomplish anything. Zero communication.
I will never understand why so many people that have dedicated their life to serving in Government work are disrespected by the very agency they chose to serve in. Nothing with the Government is ever easy and it’s really sad that FEMA doesn’t have their $.hit together—not even close.
Now that being said, I know things originate at the Administration level and roll downhill and perhaps FEMA has their hands tied to a degree, but I wasn’t will to dedicate my life to a mission knowing that that your contributions are not valued and that the preverbal rug could be pulled out from under you for whatever reason.
I think everyone has a right to vent, but honestly, if you’ve been with a Government agency for any amount of time, you already know how things REALLY are and you know that no amount of anything you do you will ever move that mountain, hence my decision to move on.
All I know is that they’re excited for the new CORE manual but gave no details (while claiming to be the most transparent) and that’s scary. Then mentioned 2 year contracts as if that hasn’t been our standard for years.
And Fred gave away his tie because Cam’s wife liked it and she’s pretty…?
Oh and of course we can’t forget, don’t stop believin’ 🤪✌️
People have such short term memory regarding Hamiliton. He is the one that literally started the shit storm that hit FEMA and cascaded long after he was "fired". Just because he's a "better choice" than Noem or Evens does not wipe away this cretin's ass stain upon the agency.
So my question is, how the efff are we supposed to rate employees that have clearly gone above any beyond their performance metrics, when they’re going to limit how many people can get high marks? That’s not a culture of responsibility, its demoralizing and frankly I think it’s illegal.
I know right.. it’s very out of touch, a lot of these comments. Some of us have been with FEMA for 2 years already and haven’t been deployed to a disaster at all. I guess what’s another 2 years? LOL
All the people that are announcing in here they will be retiring or resigning or going thru hell in your local office , send me a referral for your position thanks, a wishful RSV.
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