Conference 7.286::digital

    It has been stated by Digital that after the MCG group goes away, DEC
    will contrtact with a new company created by some of the people let
    go, to take over the duties performed by this group.  So much for the
    clause which says you can't come back in a contracted capacity within
    2 years.
    
    Mark
    

    RE: .2
    
    What function does/did the MCG group perform ?
    

    MCG provided writing, design, and production services on an hourly
    basis, mostly to Digital's marketing and marketing-communication
    groups. And PROVIDED is the correct tense. The group is gonzo after
    June 28. 

    According to the scuttlebut across the aisle (where MCG sits) 350
    will be laid off, but 100 will be in the consulting company. This
    does a couple of things:
    
          1. Reduces DEC's personnel cost per employee, since they will
             not have to pay fringe, etc.
    
          2. Keeps management from having to decide which 250 should go.
             Lay off everyone, it's easier. 
    
    This is not the most cheerful place to be sitting at the moment.
    
    
    Linda

    re: .2
    
    The policy does not say you have to be gone for two years in order to
    contract to DEC.  It says that you cannot contract back until the
    number of weeks of your severance package has passed.
    
    I think MCG is a different story because it is not being disbanded due
    to work that has gone away, but because DEC believes it can do the work
    in a more cost effective fashion using outside sources.  My wife works
    in MCG and she has long term projects in progress.  Is it appropriate
    for the in-DEC client to have to restart the project with an individual
    from outside of DEC who knows nothing about the project?  I don't think
    so.  There is something to be said, though, for consistently
    implemented, well thought out policy.
    

    Speaking of contracting I heard, yes heard not fact, that there are
    over 1800 temp/contractors working for DEC today. I know I don't
    have all the facts but if this is true it doesn't seem right. Here
    we are laying off a lot of good people and we have this many temps.
    The temps are anything from Secreatries, System managers, Software
    engineers, etc.... Couldn't some of the people who were let go taken
    over some of these positions?
    
    Jim C.
    

    There is nothing wrong with contracting. Contractors give you a lot of
    flexibility. When a project is done you don't get left carrying excess
    people that you can't use.
    
    Also regarding contracting people as against laying off people. Go look
    at the JOBS notesfile. There are COUNTLESS people with open reqs. The
    problem is that the available people don't have the right skillsets.
    That gives you two choices:
    
    	1, Lay off the people with mismatched skillsets
    	2, Retrain these people
    
    Sometimes 1) is appropiate sometimes 2) is appropriate. Meanwhile the
    managers with jobs to fill have to contract people because the
    necessary skills are not available internally.
    
    Dave

    What about the contractors who had headcount in MCG? They're in the
    same boat as the layed-off MCG employees, aren't they. Except they
    don't get a package. Do the MCG employees have to wait until their
    package runs out before they can contract here? 
    
    Re .6: I agree. As for longterm continuing projects, seems to me, the
    best people to continue doing a job are the people already doing the job.
    But, are you saying that only those MCG people who join the new company
    (IMPACT) will be able to continue to work here? I hate to think Digital
    has come to this! Is your wife joining the new company?
    
    Katherine 

    
    FWIW I don't believe that contracting is necessarily 'good' if you are
    on the 'contracted' side of the deal.
    
    I was speaking with some of the folks in manufacturing the other day.
    I was shocked to hear that MANY (rumour had it that is was MOST) of
    the folks working in that building are contracts. One guy said he'd 
    been with DEC for 10 years...as a TEMP! That means 10 years with NO
    Medical, or vacation or Dec benefits....10 YEARS....
    strangley enough, most of the folks in the other building seem to be
    minorities...
    
    something about the whole idea kind of makes me sick. 
    
    Great for Dec. But is that really how people should be treated no
    matter WHO they work for?
    

    RE: .-1
    
    People who are on contract are generally payed a much higher salary than a
    DEC person doing the same job.  This is intended to compensate for lack
    of benefits.  This can work out well, especially if the salary
    differential is large enough, the contractor has potential to find work
    quickly, and the contractor is covered by a spouse's health plan.

    	Contracting, either to fill in holes short-term or as a long-
    	term position, is pure free-market economics at its best.
    
    	Joe Oppelt

>    Also regarding contracting people as against laying off people. Go look
>    at the JOBS notesfile. There are COUNTLESS people with open reqs. The
>    problem is that the available people don't have the right skillsets.

        That's  not   the  only  problem  with  those  listings.    Those
        "COUNTLESS" open reqs  often  have  a big, fat "NO" listed in the
        _Relocation_Funds_ field.  For example, only 18 of 46 listed 28AD
        (HW Principle Engineer) reqs are  approved  for relocation funds.
        Great jobs in, say, _Maynard_ are then practically  closed out to
        candidates from  outside  the  _GMVO_  (Greater  Maynard  Virtual
        Office).
        
        Many of these positions have been open since the beginning of the
        (calendar) year.  I'm sure that a number of these positions could
        easily  have  been  filled  by    very  qualified  candidates  if
        management had simply broken through this geographical lock-out.
        
        Note  that  this  relocation thing is  coming  from  both  sides,
        however.    I know of a very  nice  HW  engineer  position  (with
        relocation funds, BTW) that was made know to two _very_ qualified
        candidates in TSOP at the time.  They _refused_ because  it meant
        coming  to _New_England_ from the South$West.  Gimme a break!  At
        least we _tried_...
        
        John Erickson

Contractors don't have things as cushy as one might think:

	1.  From 20-35% of the fees Digital pays go to an agency - DEC
	    will NOT allow contractors to be hired "direct".

	2.  Contractors must pay the full cost of FICA (twice what employees
	    pay), their own insurance ($200-$400 per month), have no
	    pension or other similar benefits.

	3.  Contractors can be told at any time to pack up and leave, despite
	    time remaining on their contract.  This often happens anytime
	    someone at Digital sneezes - contractors seem to be a "safe target"
	    for the beancounters.  Never mind that they're there because
	    nobody else with the proper skills could be found for the job.

	4.  Rates paid to contractors have dropped considerably over the past
	    few years.

	5.  The job market as a whole is slow - especially for applications
	    programmers.  It's not unusual to be out of work for 6-9 months
	    at a time.

It used to be that you could pack away a tidy sum as a contractor.  It's a
lot tougher to do that nowadays.  Think twice before you assume that any
contractor is sitting on a fat bank account and taking a job away from an
employee in transition.

					Steve

Re .10: You mention that "most of the folks in the *other* [my emphasis]
building seem to be minorities..."  Is this "other" building the same as
"that building" where most people are on contract, or is it a different one?

In other words, are you saying that minorities seem to be in a disadvantaged
group (contractors) or that they're in a privileged group (regular employees)?

RE:     <<< Note 1465.14 by QUARK::LIONEL "Free advice is worth every cent" >>>

>	1.  From 20-35% of the fees Digital pays go to an agency - DEC
>	    will NOT allow contractors to be hired "direct".

However, if you want to make the real bucks what you can do is start
your own consulting company (you, your wife, in your basement) then get
on the Digital approved consulting list (The tough part).  Then you:

o Take home 100% of what Digital pays.
o Have other people work through you and take 20-35% of what they make
as well.
o Use your inside knowledge to bring in your consultants.  If your are
working a position such as project manager then you are in a good
position for this.

    re: back a few...
    
    That's a tough call: Being unemployed or moving to N.E.
    
    Ken

    
>>   That's a tough call: Being unemployed or moving to N.E.
    
    It's tough making a decision to move or be unemployed no matter where
    you live,( even MA.) and no matter where you might be moving.
    
    When you have spent a major part of your life in a particular area you
    can't help but have pretty deep roots.
    
    Joe 

    Joe, I merely meant that it would be a tough call for me personally.
    You see I lived in Mass. for over half my life and most of my family is
    there yet it would be a hard decision to move back there since I know
    how things are in that state.
    
    Ken