Oil Prices

[WuDrWu]

This could be a 4000 page thread all by itself, but I'd roughly estimate 99% of federal employees are underworked, overpaid, over-benefited workers when compared to their private sector counterparts.

[Shocker85]

This could be a 4000 page thread all by itself, but I'd roughly estimate 99% of federal employees are underworked, overpaid, over-benefited workers when compared to their private sector counterparts.

Boy, that is a pretty harsh and short-sighted declaration.

Ask a Secret Service agent, FAA ATC employee, FBI agent or analyst, analysts at any of numerous federal agencies, and a host of other federal workers about their workload and extravagant pay (NOT) vs. their private sector counterparts - which in many cases do not exist. I think you will find an awful lot of decent, responsible people doing a lot of good work and working very hard at it. This doesn't even include the military, which are also federal employees.

There most certainly is waste in government, but to declare 99% of federal employees to be slackers is not fair.

BTW - I am NOT a federal employee.

--'85.

[pinstripers]

98%, tops.............

[kcshocker11]

This could be a 4000 page thread all by itself, but I'd roughly estimate 99% of federal employees are underworked, overpaid, over-benefited workers when compared to their private sector counterparts.

My Dad was a retired Fed worker and not only did he serve his country in Combat but also in the Civil Service. He was a hard worker typical of most from the WW2 generation and in his govt work helped many people. He was college educated and had a trade but chose to help people as opposed to setting a goal of making lots of money. Sorry you feel the way you do Doc.

[pinstripers]

You cannot compare the work ethic of our fathers' generation to that of today.

[Dave Stalwart]

And you can't compare the very best government jobs that are selective and require high level staff to your generic, somewhat unnecessary program (debatably) temp staff or your low wage, dead end government jobs.

[Play Angry]

Nvmd, will opt to not derail.

[kcshocker11]

You cannot compare the work ethic of our fathers' generation to that of today.

I have worked with and managed many people from different generations. I think its unfair to catigorize the work ethic of younger people as poor or less. Times are different and require different skills for todays problems.

[Dave Stalwart]

I have worked with and managed many people from different generations. I think its unfair to catigorize the work ethic of younger people as poor or less. Times are different and require different skills for todays problems.

I can't speak for any older generation very accurately because I'm only 30, but some of the 20 somethings I have to manage are absolutely terrible. On the other hand, there are a couple that are pretty great. I think work ethic is really just something that exists in certain people and doesn't exist in others. A lot of times, I will notice that my dad will categorize or generalize but he only allows himself to see the really crappy young people. I suppose we don't always notice the really good young people because they don't stand out.

I have a theory. Most of the good help I have are people with homes, families, car payments, etc. You give a guy a reason to need his job and he becomes someone else almost immediately. Well, it seems that people are accepting responsibility at a later age now. It makes the 15-30 year olds not always look so hot as a group because you've got guys still treating work like a right and not a blessing while they live with their parents and play video games well past when they are in high school. At some point, they finally learn about the real world and they finally snap into gear. It just happens later than it should these days.

It's the people who accept responsibility in a healthy time frame that jump right into the workforce and do well.

[Play Angry]

Boomers mocking any other generation for entitlement is the richest joke I've heard in a long time.

[SHOCKvalue]

Ask a Secret Service agent, FAA ATC employee, FBI agent or analyst, analysts at any of numerous federal agencies, and a host of other federal workers about their workload and extravagant pay (NOT) vs. their private sector counterparts - which in many cases do not exist.

I personally know an ATC, and I have two FBI agents in my extended social circle. The ATC does not have a college education, and the FBI guys have lib art degrees. All three make about twice their peer group median. None of the three are rich, but all of the three check all boxes as upper middle class.

Federal government employees - almost without disclaimer - earn a stronger living as part of the machine, than they would in the private sector. I wouldn't necessarily so easily say the same about state and local gov't workers.

Also, the fact that the DC metro has the highest CoL in the US should not be lost on anyone with a fundamental understanding of economics. There has been a documentary made about this correlation, but I am too lazy at the moment to look it up and link it.

[Kung Wu]

The government waste and failed programs such as?

There's toooons of government waste, I can attest first hand to that as a former government employee. I'm just curious as to what programs you think are wasteful.

Pick a card any card. You can throw a dart blindfolded at the dartboard of government programs and be guaranteed to score at least one point.

[Play Angry]

Eh, it just depends. I worked ~75 hours per week last year and have a buddy who is a senior analyst in the Department of the Navy who worked pretty comparable hours for far less pay because he was staffed on a monster project. A classmate working for the DOJ probably worked almost as much because of a few big cases. OTOH I would be relatively surprised if certain other gov areas have ever worked their employees over 60 hours in a single week. Like most things, it just depends and there are anecdotes illustrating all sides.

Fed gov workers in general have a great deal because of platinum benefits and an utterly ridiculous pension system. Their median pay is bloated compared to the average joe but their ceiling is capped lower as well.

Nearly all non-degreed or relatively less qualified folks in fed gov were hired on well before the most recent financial crash. The better entry level gigs for MBAs and JDs are more competitive right now in fed gov than they are at the big 5 consulting firms or big law firms, for comparison. It's not at all like the 90s or early 00s when just about any tard who "couldn't cut it" in private practice just settled into the cushy world of govt work.

[pinstripers]

Courthouse employees? State highway workers? US Postal workers?

[shocka khan]

Kung, you're offering us a false equivalency.

How many corporations pi$$ money away on failed ventures. Ones that are usually some wet dream of an overpaid CEO?

A company I once worked for had to write $42 million (after depreciation) of software after the EVP brought his consultant girl friend in to rework our business processes and the software supporting them. He brought his girlfriend into every business unit he worked in for the company, usually with less than stelar results. When he left, he received a half million plus severance and then IMMEDIATELY went to work for the software consultants. I heard one of the things he did for his new employer was teach ethics classes.

Corporate America rewards executives for failing.

Career Government employees, on the other hand, must try to do their work toiling under some well-heeled contributor (mostly incompetent ones) who don't know jack about how the department works, or what they do. And even worse, once these well-heeled fools finally get it, they jump back to private industry to consult.

Like I always say, show me an entrenched politician and I'll show you a crook!