Heyas,

Management will move with lightning speed to move people into lower paying positions for furlough or whatever other reason when it suits their need.

But in the interest of spirited debate, here are the pros-cons:

AE System:

Pros:
LONG lead time protects your position if you want to stay put...sort of, since the company can "convert" you at their whim. Company controls the timing anyway.

Cons:
Long lead time. If you want to change positions, you better have your mind made up.
Occasional bids makes it difficult to plan moves.
No real gouge on what people are going to do. "Pent up demand" means people are going to go all over the place.
Discourages same category base swapping.
No real way to predict when you go to training.
No real way to start banking the new pay rate (might work in your favor, though).
If you fall off to reserve or other undesirable QoL malady, no short term way to bail out to something you can hold a line or better QoL on.

Oh yea, they can "cancel" the bid after you get it..."sorry, just kidding"


APA System

Pros:
Predictable
Easy to see which way the wind is blowing
Easy to predict when you'll be in training. Permits sharp shooting holidays/summers/etc.
You know exactly when the position is effective.
Permits base swapping on a monthly basis.
Easy to bail out of a suddenly undesirable QoL situation
You get awarded it, you own it: Once awarded, company must displace you.

Cons:
During stagnant times, the bottom positions in each category/base may "flux", leading to "bouncing positions" (although this can be resolved by bidding something you can reliably hold...if any).
Easy for the company to rapidly flush people to the bottom, although I'm not sure how the AE system prevents this, since the company controls when they happen.

Oh yea, "what am I willing to give up to get this?". Not a damn thing. The company owes us some serious bank, and this is just one way to start collecting.

Nu