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Having been a government contractor, the agency I worked worked for hired us because their own staff were incapable of performing the job and typical government

Having been a government contractor, the agency I worked worked for hired us because their own staff were incapable of performing the job and typical government beauracracy meant that firing/hiring would have taken longer than the required deadlines for their projects. End result? A full staff of nearly useless government employees and a full staff of contracted workers who resented them and were treated as second class citizens in the work environment. Sure, the contracting company billed huge amounts, but our individual pay was always less than a comparable government employee pay grade. Most us would have gladly switched over to federal payroll if given the chance. The contractor churn rate was abysmal because of the work environment and pay.

jcromartie 15y ago
I worked as a gov't contractor at a federal office where there was one guy who was actually tasked with putting together puzzles and framing them (for wall decorations), because his technical skills were completely obsolete.
- evilduck 15y ago
  I knew a government employee who was known to be actively damaging to the projects he was assigned to. This was known by everyone due to formal complaints up and down my contracting company's and the government's chain of command, and was propagated to everyone in earshot due to escalated verbal exchanges. I wish that guy was sidelined to puzzle assembly.
evilduck 15y ago
I'd add that contractors were a permanent fixture at that agency. The head count fluctuated a bit based on what projects were active but there were no apparent plans for the government to begin managing IT itself. (fluctuated slowly...project timelines were measured in years, I witnessed random but simultaneous resignations affect the contractor head count more than any project ending, it was rare for a single contractor to work on a project from spec/design to release)

jcromartie 15y ago

I worked as a gov't contractor at a federal office where there was one guy who was actually tasked with putting together puzzles and framing them (for wall decorations), because his technical skills were completely obsolete.

evilduck 15y ago
I knew a government employee who was known to be actively damaging to the projects he was assigned to. This was known by everyone due to formal complaints up and down my contracting company's and the government's chain of command, and was propagated to everyone in earshot due to escalated verbal exchanges. I wish that guy was sidelined to puzzle assembly.

evilduck 15y ago

I'd add that contractors were a permanent fixture at that agency. The head count fluctuated a bit based on what projects were active but there were no apparent plans for the government to begin managing IT itself. (fluctuated slowly...project timelines were measured in years, I witnessed random but simultaneous resignations affect the contractor head count more than any project ending, it was rare for a single contractor to work on a project from spec/design to release)