ATCO1962
Late eighties, Pan Am yes, in the ACC at 0400HR LST the night it opened for business, eating celebratory cake with the Director General, which was the highlight of his night!
Didn't have your problem of working directly for PACA (DGCA in my day) we kept salaries up with market forces and we could therefore keep staff levels maintained, albeit subsequent to constant pressure to reduce contract costs by reducing staff levels. Did help that we had a large pool of Zim' ATCOs to draw upon. They'd had enough of Bob Mugabe destroying their country after just 1 year of independence.
Had major problem with recruiting suitable local applicants as they could get far more money working for PDO or a bank, without having to work nights/public holidays. Those we did recruit, train and retain made excellent Area ATCOs - Abdullah, Saud (aka Super Chicken), Sabri to name a few. often having to manage a full procedural board on North Sector as the 23 cm military radar that we had to use keep falling over.
Think positive you still have a job, we were constantly being told that the ACC would be completely nationalised by the mid 1990s. It could have happened, there was the talent available locally, but as you indicate, then as is the case now, those in authority (often there through family/tribal position rather than intellect) could not/would not recognise the job skills and salary levels required to attract the right calibre of staff, and have the balls to secure a budget that would sustain it.
We set up the en-route charges system for DGCA, in the mid 1980s over $US1.0 million per month was coming, so money was there to invest in staffing. Unfortunately those in authority would go ask for some of it, before it disappeared into central government coffers.