Here’s the dirty little secret about the civilian Government workforce.
I’m sure that the size of the civilian Government workforce HAS shrunk over the years. That is always a politician’s favorite talking point at election time.
However, the work still needs to be done.
The Government’s solution is to replace Government workers with contractors. Therefore, the Government pays the (often higher) contractor salaries for the workers, pays for another layer of managers (also contractor) and pays for the profit margin of the contract.
Therefore, the politicians get to crow about how the Government workforce has been cut, but the cost (to the taxpayers)of the Government doing business continues to rise!
When all costs are considered, the cost of Govt vs contractor are negligibly different.
But — you can fire or get rid of a contractor on a moment’s notice. You can end a contract tomorrow (termination for ocnvenience) and lose a lot of contractors all at once. Try firing a Government employee - impossible.
When all costs are considered, the cost of Govt vs contractor are negligibly different.
But — you can fire or get rid of a contractor on a moment’s notice. You can end a contract tomorrow (termination for ocnvenience) and lose a lot of contractors all at once. Try firing a Government employee - impossible.