this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2025
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[–] SamotsvetyVIA@hexbear.net 15 points 4 days ago (2 children)

It's stupid but this is the norm around the world. At my plant, which is not a nuclear plant, most of the engineers and workers can't take a leave and are always "on call" (even though their contract is not an on call contract) until they can get a break once in around 1.5 years because we are technically understaffed. And this isn't even a meaningful plant, if it goes down nothing really happens.

[–] Hexboare@hexbear.net 10 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I did see something about how a lot of the hydro plants in the US are becoming woeful understaffed because there is no appetite to hire staff and very few people have the appropriate training anyway

[–] SamotsvetyVIA@hexbear.net 11 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

They can definitely hire staff, especially in the US of all places there is no shortage of promising engineers. Very few people get hired to these kinds of plants fully trained, most pick up 90% of their skills on the job. It's just a long process. The real reason, at least for our plant (a plant that has already returned all its investment dividends tenfold, passed its calculated lifespan, and is now just a money printing machine), is that there are chiefly 2 ways (3 in our country, but this isn't about that) that the plant becomes more economical to keep running: process improvements or reduction of labour costs. The sacrifice first comes for maintenance staff, overworking them, then for all other disciplines depending on whats allowed to be gutted by law. Engineers are actually making out in a relatively "favourable" position, since they can directly contribute to process improvements - the company has fewer incentives to let them go. This situation ends in there being a settled number of so-and-so engineers, which is "understaffed" according to your and mine definitions, but is the perfect amount for the line-go-up number-crunchers.

[–] aeshna_cyanea@lemm.ee 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Guessing you're Russian based on the handle but this was also a thing in the Soviet union even in the 30s, there were cases of people wanting to work too much that their boss had to force them to take time off. It just lowers your productivity in the long run

[–] SamotsvetyVIA@hexbear.net 12 points 4 days ago

Trust me our guys aren't raring to work at all. Most of them aren't citizens and their residency status and their family's lifestyle depend on them being able to hold this job, so they feel obligated to do this. Just classic capitalism things. Also, the plant is not in Russia.