Who among you would work for the Government in exchange for lower pay but assured stability?

[TheCoxwain]

Republicans love railing against expanding federal government as a public policy ... but let us forget the whole macro economic thing for a moment and simply focus on the individual ( as the Republicans love to) ....


If you had a chance to do your exact same job for the Govt in exchange for lower pay but more benefits and stability...

Would you?


AGAIN - Refrain from getting into a Macro debate -- just focus on your choice.

Update . I am keeping a tab .... (I should have posted a poll ..but its too late)

10 - 1 for working for the Govt ( Incld my vote)

( We are kicking ass - Go Govt!!)

13 - 1 now.

[EFerrari]

1. I would. The decrease in stress would add years to my life.

Don't even have to think about it.

[NV Whino]

2. I wouldn't work for the government no matter how much you paid me.

[Maru Kitteh]

44. why?

[NV Whino]

48. Because I have worked for the government (county)

And saw what a bureaucratic mess it was and how much money was wasted.

[mwb970]

45. That's a pretty broad statement.

And darned odd, too. What's your beef?

[sasquatch]

3. Me.

:hi:

[Terran]

4. I do work for a state government

and currently there is no particular guarantee that I won't get laid off. It's happened here before, just a few years ago. Before that happened, I think state employees did believe there was no possibility of layoffs, but that's no longer true.

[hfojvt]

19. yeah I am not seeing the stability

also I wonder if it gives free rein for dickheads to be dickheads because they almost cannot be fired. My boss is a major league dickhead and I hear stories from other departments.

Also, once upon a time I worked for the government as a mathematician. I was a GS-7 potential 12. As a GS-9 in November 1986 I made $10.45 an hour. My co-workers used to say "you could make more money in the private sector." I quit that job shortly after my promotion to GS-9 and even after getting another university degree have never seen those big bucks from the private sector. In fact I only went to graduate school because I could not find a job - any job. Later, in Feb. 1993 I got a factory job, paying $5.10 an hour. This was to support my business, until it took off. It never took off and I closed it in July 1998 and moved to a better job market (bigger city anyway). My next job in Jul 1998 was a temp working a 12 hour night shift for $7.25 an hour.

Thus comparing the government to the private sector
1986 - $10.45
1993 - $5.10
1998 - $7.25

Thus I find the premise that people would make less if they worked for the government to be a false one. In fact, the pork-whiners often complain that federal wages and benefits are too generous.

[TheCoxwain]

21. Is that the comparison for jobs requiring the same skill set ...I doubt it.

Seriously.

[hfojvt]

28. that's not relevant though, since those were the jobs I got

if you cannot find or get one of those higher paying private sector jobs, then they might as well not exist. The government job didn't have anything to do with my college classes. The skillset required was something I could have done as a high school freshman.

[T Wolf]

5. I do - NIH-funded cancer research. Don't make as much as in the "private sector"

and there is the stress of having to get grants, but the luxury of not dealing with for-profit assholes who will cheat you for their own benefit is worth it.

The pay is not great because of the tightening of the federal medical-research dollars over the past eight years, but things are improving, at least as far as the funding opportunities are concerned. And there is still a bias toward those higher on the food chain in terms of salary, pensions, and other benefits.

But, it is a decision I made long ago. And aside from occasional negative moods when I see what the pharma corps are making, I am happy with where I am.

But then, I care about what I am doing more than my personal wealth.

[flobee1]

13. I feel the same way

"but the luxury of not dealing with for-profit assholes who will cheat you for their own benefit is worth it."
Yes, there are budget constraints, but the overall focus is not profit at all costs. There aren't a lot of gov. jobs that fire you for not hitting your numbers every month.

[TheCoxwain]

16. My wife is into NIH Funded cancer research too ...But works for the University .. I exactly know

what you are talking about.

[T Wolf]

18. Me too. ANd my wife has been in schools forever. We both are just sucker liberals who would

rather do good and survive (OK) than do bad and make money.

[TheCoxwain]

49. You are right -I might go to school again in Fall ..

even though I was in grad school from 2000-2006 ( got my PhD in May 06)

I cant get enough of being at school ..

[54anickel]

6. Absolutely!!! n/t

[robinlynne]

7. YES. absolutley. I have no benefits now. Health insurance is my #2 monthly expense, right after rent

and right before food....

[guitar man]

8. lower pay

I don't think you can get any lower than what I make! :rofl:

[bobburgster]

9. I would!

Most definitely less stressful.

[quiller4]

10. I'm retired now. I worked both for the state and private noprofit

agencies. I had better pay and benefits as a state employee. We were union. We had a good bargaining agreement and great shop steward. If I returned to the work world I'd be happy to work for the State of Washington.

[Iggo]

11. Sign me up.

Do I have to join the Communist Party now?

;)

(Seriously, though....my vote is Yes.)

[TheCoxwain]

12. 11-1 in favor !!!

[Hekate]

14. Most civil servants (and career military) have made that tradeoff. Most also have a sense that...

... they are serving the greater good in the jobs that they do. The sense of security plus benefits and ultimately a pension is a great incentive for many people.

The RW has done a tremendous job of belittling civil service and of demoralizing the people who choose such careers. When I visited my old friend (a federal civil servant) in D.C. right after Hurricane Katrina and went to lunch with a bunch of her cohorts, I never saw so many bitter people. Bushco wrecked a proud tradition.

The free marketeers have sold a lot of workers on the idea that the private sector is the onlyplace to make a career, and look where the free marketeers and the RW have gotten us.

I worked for County Public Works at one time, and my job took me to many departments on behalf of my boss. Most workers are proud of the jobs they do, and believe they have meaning.

Hekate

[Royal Sloan 09]

15. yes, nt

[Fresh_Start]

17. hell yes, I'd work for the government

for some sense of stability

[Demoiselle]

20. I would work for the gov't.. Absolutely! (eom)

[katandmoon]

22. I worked for the Fed. Govt. for almost 30 years and the job security and benefits were a big reason

Why. It wasn't that stable, there were major reorganizations at my agency every few years and you never knew where you were going to end up. But except at the start of the Reagan administration, when there was a RIF (reduction in force) and some people did lose their jobs, it was pretty secure.

[Zodiak]

23. I already do

I chose to be an academic scientist rather than a corporate one.

I make jack shit as a post-doc, BUT I know that my skills are appreciated and in-demand in my workplace....and no one will use my skills to screw other people like they would in a corporate environment.

Plus I get to work for the "tenure" thing (if I'm lucky).

[TheCoxwain]

25. Work towards a faculty position Zodiak ....we are all rooting for you.

:bounce:

[Mike 03]

24. I think so, although I confess this personal and hypothetical. At one point in my life

I seriously considered going to law school to become an assistant district attorney, and I knew that was a government job, limited ceiling and salary--certainly nothing like being a defense attorney like F. lee Bailey. I was thinking "Christopher Darden" or "Marcia Clarke." I could imagine myself to be extremely happy in that role. Those were the people who were my heroes at that time of my life, and that was my passion at that time.

ON EDIT: for clarification, you could think of an ADA as a prosecutor. Lol, I should have just said "prosecutor."

[Dappleganger]

26. Nope, I'm a risk-taker.

:rofl:

[Soylent Brice]

27. ME!

[Throd]

29. I would not.

[mrs_p]

30. have before, and will again

i'd rather have a slow, steady income (and in a union), than a high paying contract. as long as it paid the bills...

[HelenWheels]

31. I did

I worked for the county and state for 25 years as a nurse. We had a union and pretty good pay and excellent benefits. I started out working for a private hospital and had worse pay and hardly any benefits than what I got working for the government.

[SeeHopeWin]

32. I would....nt

[TheCoxwain]

47. You would or wouldnt? :) interesting use of 'nt'

NT

[Greyhound]

33. Should start in the next month or so. n/t

[Waiting For Everyman]

34. Yes.

[H2O Man]

35. I did.

[csziggy]

36. That was my plan when I graduated from college

Get a state job, work steady, retire after 30 years (which would be about now) and collect my retirement and do what I wanted.

The year I graduated, the state had a hiring freeze. When I considered trying again, Jeb Bush was in charge and he gutted the protections state workers had against capricious firing for party affiliation or whatever excuse supervisors could come up with.

I do know people who have worked for the state for many years. They stick with it for the benefits, relative job security, and their retirement funds. Several I know took early retirement during the Jeb years - the state offered buy outs and lower retirement pay, but with what was happening in their departments, they decided they would be better off.

[noamnety]

37. I work for the state part time

it was full time and I had a contract for full time, but in January my hours got cut.

I can afford to stay in the job though because my partner also works for the government and rakes in a boatload of money for it. So some of the assumptions in the OP aren't playing out in our lives.

[LiberalFighter]

38. Federal yes.... State would depend on which state.

[Stinky The Clown]

39. Feds .... maybe ..... State or local .... nah ..... but I wish now I stayed in the Navy

I could be right where I am now, but would have been drawing a pension for 21 years.

[Yupster]

40. Of course

You can't measure the value of a pension, and you just can't find them anymore other than for government workers.

[elleng]

41. Been there, Done that.

Yes.

PS, the stability wasn't (after 20+ years, that is.) 'Deregulation' shot the agency down.

[taught_me_patience]

42. No

You gotta enjoy what you do. I feel like I'd probably be bored in a gov't job.

[Maru Kitteh]

43. Hubby already does. State job is steady, and better, if less llucrative.

Stability and the opportunities for continued education were very attractive and remain so.

[quaker bill]

46. I do

[demodonkey]

50. ME! When do I start? nt