Caltech to lay off 100

Capitalism has finally failed the masses. How ironic that those on college campuses feel the pain as well. It's time to embrace socialist and even communist ideals now. LOL @ the free market!

geez, i'd love to see statistics on those who were laid off. how many upper level people got the ax? i bet none. more likely it was those who gave their lives to the school. this is a sad day for such a storied institution. years ago, the school had an excellent reputation for being a family place, where people were treated like people. now it sounds corporate. i just wonder how that French president sleeps at night knowing he's ruining an American goldmine. just fine, probably. as long as he makes his money (and I'm sure it's a lot).

wow wrote:

geez, i'd love to see statistics on those who were laid off. how many upper level people got the ax? i bet none. more likely it was those who gave their lives to the school. this is a sad day for such a storied institution. years ago, the school had an excellent reputation for being a family place, where people were treated like people. now it sounds corporate.

As a former Caltech student, I can tell you that 'family' atmosphere is gone. It is run like a business. This change is noted with sorrow by many current and former students. It began when they lost so much money in the stock market after the dot com bust and the 9/11 attacks. When money rules, people suffer.

When Caltech's student body threatened to boycott dining services to protest pricing and availability changes, the administration said they would fire employees to compensate for the lost income.

Professors don't care about mentoring students as much as they care about consulting for industry and making $$$. My graduate adviser prevented me from moving forward with an idea because it would have conflicted with his private company's financial interests.

Currently, they're cutting loose and graduating many graduate students because they can't afford to keep them on, even as cheap labor.

They take $$$ from the NIH and NSA, and who knows how they spend it? How many hours do you think Caltech professors and students spend looking at internet pornography?

Hint: there are about 4 men per 1 woman on campus.

It's pathetic to see this institution go through these changes.

Ironically, the english translation of Jean-Lou Chameau is Joe-Low Scam you!

someone should start a petition or something. I knew some people who worked there once and yeah some lost their jobs since the dot com bubble and 9/11. And now this. Who the hell is minding the ship? This place is special. So sad to see it ruined...

Former Caltech Student wrote:

<quoted text>
As a former Caltech student, I can tell you that 'family' atmosphere is gone. It is run like a business. This change is noted with sorrow by many current and former students. It began when they lost so much money in the stock market after the dot com bust and the 9/11 attacks. When money rules, people suffer.
When Caltech's student body threatened to boycott dining services to protest pricing and availability changes, the administration said they would fire employees to compensate for the lost income.
Professors don't care about mentoring students as much as they care about consulting for industry and making $$$. My graduate adviser prevented me from moving forward with an idea because it would have conflicted with his private company's financial interests.
Currently, they're cutting loose and graduating many graduate students because they can't afford to keep them on, even as cheap labor.
They take $$$ from the NIH and NSA, and who knows how they spend it? How many hours do you think Caltech professors and students spend looking at internet pornography?
Hint: there are about 4 men per 1 woman on campus.
It's pathetic to see this institution go through these changes.

at least they unveiled that new ugly building on california ave. its arrogantly ugly to me. they had money for that. and by the way, they tried communism in its most pure form in the former ussr and it did not work, nothing is perfect nor will it be, there will always be inequalites. usually most full on communist societies are brutal dictatorships. sorry there is not utopia. look at this state, its extreamly leftist and the dems have bankrupted us yet we pay high taxes and get practically nothing for it. we will never see our property tax refunds therefore less spending will happen. there needs to be a return to a sense of moderation which includes regulation and freedom at the same time.

A friend of mine who is approaching retirement age and has been with Caltech for 26 years is among the 100. It seems as though Caltech management was taken over by lawyers and accountants who have no feelings about the impact that this places on individuals. Caltech is more than a corporation -- it is a family, particularly for those who have dedicated their lives to the instituation. Such shabby treatment is shameful.

Caltech has one of the richest endowments in the nation for a school of its size. This is despicable. As an alum, I think I will redirect my charitable donations this year to something else. No doubt professors (some of whom are horrible and have no business teaching or being at Caltech) will be spared while the people who truly work and make sure that the students are taken care of will be affected the most. I truly question whether this new president values anything other than "name" professors. He certainly doesn't care about the students' experience and the people that take care of the students. The students are the raison d'etre of the University and he seems to have forgotten that.

By the way, alum donations also go way down if students don't have a meaningful and awesome experience. Unhappy students = unhappy alums. Get rid of deadbeat professors who do nothing for the students. Keep the staff who take care of the students.

It is a travesty that the California Institute of Technology will layoff loyal employees, who work tirelessly for the university. Because these employees lack the Ph.D. of Professordom, they get the shaft. Let's face it, the university cares little for the community and the mere peon-staff members who are going to be or have been laid off...if you haven't had the privilege of higher education and wealth to get one of those coveted Ph.D.'s , then you are on your own. Caltech is going to find out the hard way that professors/Ph.D.'s/researchers all need little peon-worker-bees to do the dirty work. Shame on Caltech!

Sad sad sad. I heard from my friends who haven't graduated yet that they laid off really dedicated staff who have been with Caltech for years and kept some big time losers. Isn't it ridiculous that they are laying off people who make sure the University runs like a well-oiled machine, while keeping people who slack and only suck up.

Good luck to those laid off. Thanks for making my experience at Caltech awesome. I agree with Caltechalum -- no money to Caltech from me either.

So Caltech is keeping a professor on the payroll whose son allegedly brutally murdered a San Gabriel woman? LOL. Now I've heard everything!!!! Way too funny. You'd think that would be bad publicity for Caltech but nope. They layoff 100 schleps instead. Go Tigers! LOL.

Way to show youre hurting CalTech, the mere news of these layoffs will probably hurt students interest in attending your university. Who want's to go to an expensive private school that's facing layoffs? Not me! And i think many of the brightest students in the country will agree.

I will make sure i email my MIT friends so they can use this as yet another reason why people should SKIP CalTech.

1) you can not fire someone for something done by their son

2) republicans bankrupted california with their wonderful prop 13

3) undergrads are not cit's raison d'etre; in fact quite the opposite. They just waste everyone else's time.

4) it is true that they fire the wrong people. Like the guy from the convenience store, I think his name was Peter. Everyone who went to caltech a few years ago know who I'm talking about. He was the worst of all the dining service employees, by far. What did they do? Promote him.

As a former Caltech student, I am appalled by the comments left here about the school's policies, president, and buildings. They are merely ignorant reflections of a president who has in fact worked tirelessly to make Caltech a better place for its students, professors, and staff.
Caltech DOES have a large research endowment. A research endowment, however, is tied up in research. The rest of the campus is left to function on limited funds. It breaks my heart to see some of the most loyal and familiar staff members let go. Yet, knowing the president, this tells us that the decisions of who to cut were based not on brownie points but rather on whether or not their job was essential for daily operations.
Shame on you people, judging when sympathy for those laid off should be your first emotion

So i got laid off from Caltech. It sucks being laid off, but at least Caltech has a generous lay off policy. Some places give you your last check and that's it; don't show up the next day. Caltech is giving us time (even if it is mandatory by WARN) and then the severance pay. The timing just could not have been worse with no jobs to go to. I wonder if it will all work out in the end. I hope it does, because if it doesn't this will have hurt a lot of people and their families. In the end there's nothing that can be done so take what positives you can from it and move on. There is life after Caltech.