I’m not sure that bigger orgs would lead to less job security.
Living grant-to-grant certainly can feel pretty scary. Sure, you can feel confident about ~12-16 months at the very start of getting grants, but those last 3-8 months can be stressful.
Of the people I know at OP/EV/RP, I can’t think of many who got laid off.
If I were working in a larger organization on an uncertain initiative, I could imagine, and would hope for, organizations that we could trust with clear things, even if they aren’t legal. For example, if my superior clearly states in writing that my project will get 1-2 years of funding, and I know a fair bit about the history and track record of that person, I might well trust them.
I think the crux here may be how the consolidated/bigger org would be funded and budgeted. If the funding that would be going to projects of the bigger org consists largely of the same short-term / specific-purpose grants that were going to the smaller orgs, it’s probably going to be difficult for the bigger org to commit to longer-term funding for a project.
I have some concerns about switching from many small orgs to fewer bigger orgs without simultaneously changing the funding model for this work from the current style of grants to (quoting Peter’s comment) “the enduring multi-year funding commitments that are necessary to sustain a large org.” Trying to run a bigger org on small-org style funding arrangements feels like it could be the worst of both worlds.
I’m not sure that bigger orgs would lead to less job security.
Living grant-to-grant certainly can feel pretty scary. Sure, you can feel confident about ~12-16 months at the very start of getting grants, but those last 3-8 months can be stressful.
Of the people I know at OP/EV/RP, I can’t think of many who got laid off.
If I were working in a larger organization on an uncertain initiative, I could imagine, and would hope for, organizations that we could trust with clear things, even if they aren’t legal. For example, if my superior clearly states in writing that my project will get 1-2 years of funding, and I know a fair bit about the history and track record of that person, I might well trust them.
I think the crux here may be how the consolidated/bigger org would be funded and budgeted. If the funding that would be going to projects of the bigger org consists largely of the same short-term / specific-purpose grants that were going to the smaller orgs, it’s probably going to be difficult for the bigger org to commit to longer-term funding for a project.
I have some concerns about switching from many small orgs to fewer bigger orgs without simultaneously changing the funding model for this work from the current style of grants to (quoting Peter’s comment) “the enduring multi-year funding commitments that are necessary to sustain a large org.” Trying to run a bigger org on small-org style funding arrangements feels like it could be the worst of both worlds.