To those unemployed or underemployed, ever consider working for the feds?

[Herman Munster]

Within the next five years, half of the federal government will be eligible to retire and most will retire because of pensions under the old Civil Service Retirement System that allow federal employees to retire at 55 with up to 80% of their pay and maintain their current employee subsidized health benefits until medicare kicks in. What this means is enormous job opportunties will open up in the very near future.

Sure many government jobs are burecratic and it's oftentimes mind-nummingly dull work, but the benefits can't be beat. 40 hour work weeks, compressed schedules that allow every friday or every other friday off, liberal sick leave and annual leave of up to 26 days a year, not including federal holidays. And most importantly job security that doesn't exist anywhere else.

[Sammy Pepys]

1. Working for the federal government...

You'll never be rich (in most cases), but you'll always have a job.

[Herman Munster]

9. depends

If the government is the tortoise and the private sector is the hare...sure you may make more in the private sector, but what if you get canned? All it takes is one job loss combined with some bad luck....poorly timed illness, and you can be in the poorhouse.

There is a lot to be said for stable income and job security. Anyone can become rich. Even someone making $50,000 a year. All it takes is discipline. Living below your means, and investing that money in a diversified portfolio of low-cost index funds. The funds in the Federal Government's Thrift Savings Program, which are exclusively low-cost index funds, have given very good long-term returns of up to 12% a year over the last 20 years.

[Monkeyman]

2. NOPE DAD WAS GS 13 MOM WAS GS 9 NO THANKS

[hobbit709]

3. But how many of us rabblerousers

will pass the ideological purity tests from the current misadministration?

[bleedingheart]

4. I would...

if it were in the field of work I do...

in fact I have a number of clients who are government contractors who are great people and sometimes I wish they would recruit me...but it is against our contractual agreements with our clients...boo hoo...

[pooja]

5. Not all govt agencies are bad.. there are some wonderful

programs that actually help.. wouldn't it be nice though if the gov't didn't use so much waste and listened to the people that worked in the offices as to reduce the waste like other companies do.

[porphyrian]

6. They don't generally hire potheads. - n/t

[calico1]

7. Yes, if it were in my field. n/t

[rolleitreks]

8. I was a State Dept FSO.

The last refuge of the generalist. However, the job requires toeing the line whether you agree or not with Administration policies. Imagine how you'd feel about now . . .

Left after a few tours. No regrets.

[GreenCommie]

10. Don't know about the rest

but the patent office needs people badly.

Then they go and make it really easy to fire the people they just hired. :eyes:

[MercutioATC]

11. Air traffic controllers...

25% of us are elegible to retire in the next 12 months.

It's a secure job and it pays O.K...

Speaking as an ATC, it's a shitty working environment, but not nearly as bad as some of the private sector stories I've heard here. They change the requirements so often that I don't know what they're looking for right now, but www.faa.gov should have all the information you need.