Just keeping it real.
The article misstates the criticism.
Federal civilian workers earn more than non-government employees doing the same work.
The article then argues bovine excrement regarding the relative education. After all, I’m quite certain that Bristol-Myers Squibb doesn’t hire high school dropouts to research cancer cures. But the article appears to assert this as “fact” in its defense of the bloated payscales.
1. What percentage of current Federal workers are necessary for the smooth, safe, and prosperous functioning of our nation?
2. Should the Federal workforce increase, so should some Federal workers be let go?
I’ve worked with and right next to Federal employees they really are NOT any different than everyone else. Except AFTER they have worked for the FedGov for some years. Then, yes, many of them — MOST of them are lazy indulgent goldbrickers who think of themselves as entitled and underpaid, even when it is obvious to outsiders like me that most would make less in private business, and — once they are there in FedGov and have become inured in the culture — they think they have so much greater ability than the lowly private sectors scrappers and drecks.
This is an article from the VOICE OF FEDGOV — the WASHINGTON POST! It’s sick. It’s a massive public self mastrubation-fest of an article.
Just keeping it real.
Wow! This “better educated” is elitist. Education is NO measure of intelligence. Frankly, I’d like to see a requirement that no one could work for the government until they’d spent time in the private sector (military excluded). It’s not all about education, either. I don’t think they should be unionized, either. When they “negotiate” for higher wages they’re holding the American people WHO PAY THEIR SALARIES hostage. Because they’re so insulated and unaccountable they eventually forget who they work for.
How many members of congress have advanced degrees? They don’t seem to be too smart now do they? How many times (in every state in the land) do we hear about kids who were in “the system” being killed, beat up, abused because someone in the government didn’t check up on them enough? The excuse is always the same, not enough workers and too many cases, give us more of your money so we can hire more people. Lather, rinse, repeat. Pay them all half as much and hire 2 workers where their once was one.
Heavens, we have teacher here in Oregon who are earning MORE in retirement than they did when they were productive. That comes out of MY pocket. And I homeschooled because I didn’t want the indoctrination or the incompetence. When you pander to the lowest common denominator no one has to set their sights high. But that makes sense I guess since they don’t know any better. Sorry, but as long as these people work courtesy of the American people, they should be beholden to us. For too long we haven’t held them accountable. I know people with college degrees who aren’t worth the cost of the paper to print their degree and high school drop outs who work hard and are actually making something of themselves. The hard way. Without a union daddy to take care of all their needs and keep them competing like those that pay their salaries have to do.
Cindie
More reality.
I watched my father work for the Department of the Navy for two decades. I often visited my father’s office, met a lot of very neat people, including a lot of very fine naval officers.
I’ve been a government contractor on and off since the mid-1980s, and had continuous contracts with the federal government from 1991 through 2006.
Many of my current friends, neighbors, acquaintances, folks with whom I go to church are government employees or contractors.
Here’s a few things I’ve learned in 40+ years in the belly of the beast:
1. There are many fine, hard-working, dedicated government employees.
2. There are as many lazy, incompetent, dishonest government employees than good ones.
3. Good government managers with small spans of control often have very good, even excellent teams that actually get the work done in the government that is given to be done.
4. The larger the the group in the org chart, the more likely it will approach the 50% level of incompetence, ineptitude and laziness.
5. It isn’t that contractors are better people, they’re not. But on many contracts, the companies holding the contracts are only paid for the hours actually worked. In a standard year, for the contracting company to make a profit on a positiion, the worker must perform something above 1800 hours of actual direct work on the contract.
Conversely, federal employees with a few years of service begin to accrue significant amounts of annual leave and sick leave, often spend work time going to various educational events (contractors aren’t generally paid for this sort of thing, and usually do the educational thing off-hours, although there are exceptions), diversity seminars, ethics seminars, etc., and perform work directly related to their jobs about 1200 - 1400 hours per year.
Salaries between contract personnel and federal personnel doing the same job are often similar, but benefits are often much better on the federal side of things.
As well, getting rid of contract personnel is a picnic compared to getting rid of a federal employee, and thus, there is less of a tendency for contracts to accumulate useless workers.
6. Many individuals working on government contracts aspire to being hired on as direct government employees, if possible. There’s a reason for that and it isn’t patriotism.
7. Much of the work done by many federal agencies is unnecessary, useless, or even counterproductive. But there are always some dedicated federal workers within the larger group who perform that work well and efficiently.
My husband is on an advisory board for a government agency, what he sees as the problem is all the ridiculous rules and regulations. They tie their hands behind their backs, hobble their feet together and then give each worker enough stupid work for 3 people and the things that NEED to be done go wanting.
Sorry, but my BS detector went off right here. I have a master's degree in economics, specializing in labor economics.
You don't have the lopsided ratios of 300 to 400 applicants for every available position in the private sector which you have in the Federal sector. People are not stupid: they do not gravitate to jobs where they are underpaid by 26 percent.
Yes, some of the lopsided ratios can be explained by the fact that Federal sector job openings are far more visible. In most cases, they are required by law to have the facade of visibility. Private companies, on the other hand, often work through staffing agencies and recruiters because the services they provide in weeding out large pools of applicants is well worth the fees paid.
That being said, people are economically rational in job choices as they are in most other aspects of their lives. Benefits, job security, the working environment, flexible scheduling, commuting distances and a whole lot of other factors are considered in taking jobs.
There is a reason why federal workers are much older than those in the private sector: They don't like to leave these jobs. I'm sure there are a variety of reasons behind this. I'm sure some are quite capable and could easily get jobs in the private sector. Why don't they?
For anyone who has ever spent time in a government office (tax audit, permit approval, etc.), there is also no shortage of incompetents who wouldn't last a day in most private sector jobs. But I've also been to private businesses which employ these type of people for whatever reason. Is it a coincidence that far left unions like SEIU enjoy almost no success in the private sector and focus their recruiting efforts almost exclusively on the public sector? I think not.
Is it a coincidence that other far left unions like the UAW which once dominated certain private industries have now moved much of their membership into the public sector?
I’m glad that with all those geniuses in charge, the debt is only in the trillions with zero government waste.
ROFLMAO!!!! The Federal goobermint is full of lazy half a$$ workers who wouldn’t last three months in the private sector.
As far as the education thing goes all’s you have to do is look at the financial reports form the goobermint where they are constantly WRONG on all projections. Some highly educated Federal employee cannot figure out that house selling is going to go down last December when we had the worst weather in decades all across the country? Please. Federal goobermint is spelled lazy, incompetent and useless.
Been to your lcoal Post office lately?
Been to the IRS office lately?
Been to the Social Security Administration lately?
Biggest bunch of incompetent f’ offs I have ever seen.
Your stink is so bad it came through my computer!
We all deserve what we are paid. But most of us in the private sector have had our salaries cut and our out-of-pocket costs for benefits increased and our raises cancelled. We feel the pain when our company decides its time to tighten the belt. In times of $1.5 trillion deficits there is no reason why government workers should sail on as if nothing is wrong. A reasonable across-the-board salary cut is not an insult and not an attack on government workers. It is a prudent measure in times of fiscal crisis.
“The Federal Government hires lawyers to tackle corruption”
WE know how that is working out!
In private business, in my experience, there is no time for such frivolity as posting on FR or any other such unproductive activity to the enterprise.
Federal workers don’t have bottomline responsibilities, performance is ignored within that environment, retirement benefits are outrageous compared to private industry - we are being ripped.
I’ve worked in the public sector, private sector, and non-profit sector.
From what I can tell, the level of incompetence is about the same in all areas.
I suppose that the private sector has a truer sense of the value of its employees, but everytime I witnessed a cost-cotting purge take place, it was typically the best employees who went because they were the highest-paid.
And from what I can tell, the hardest actual workers tend to be in the non-profit side because you usually don’t work for that poor of pay unless you are really dedicated to what you are doing.
Years of schooling in social science and child psychology does not an education make!
Quite the opposite in far TOO MANY cases.