3 ms·

> Gee, I wonder if there’s anything that can go wrong here, when it’s handed to unskilled, underpaid employees who don’t care and are used to just following ins

> Gee, I wonder if there’s anything that can go wrong here, when it’s handed to unskilled, underpaid employees who don’t care and are used to just following instructions? Since when are Government employees underpaid? The salary is typically competitive for the work being done and the benefits/pension are outrageously generous when compared to the private sector.

bumby 3y ago
I think the general trend is that blue collar government employees tend to be well paid and have good benefits compared to private sector but the converse is often true for white collar employees, particularly professional jobs (engineers, lawyers, doctors etc.) If you disagree, take a look at govt SWE jobs postings.
- bequanna 3y ago
  Maybe white collar gov't workers are less skilled than their private sector counterparts? Alternatively, they could be "true believers"? There has to be some way to explain a pay discrepancy if it exists. How does one justify receiving a lower salary for the same amount of skill and work?
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - ultraforce 3y ago
    I don't know if it's the case in the USA but in Canada it's generally considered within IT that you are underpaid but in return have decent benefits, a pension, and a lot more job security than private sector. Especially as Canada has had multiple large IT companies that collapsed.
  - bumby 3y ago
    That could be. But I also think there are certain projects/work that you can only do in the govt. There are probably very few roles for doing fundamental astronomy science research outside of academia or government, for example. A physicist may turn down a higher paying gig in the financial sector because they want to spend their time studying fundamental physics. Others are probably conservative in nature and highly value the job security. Others, like you mention, may just not be able to cut it in the private sector. I suspect (admittedly without evidence) that someone in the NSA or Marines are not primarily driven by a paycheck. Maybe that's what you mean by "true believers"? You might need to define what you mean by "outrageously generous". I've worked in multiple public and private roles and, in general, the private ones were the ones with much more generous packages, in terms of pay and benefits.
  - bumby 3y ago
    >Maybe white collar gov't workers are less skilled than their private sector counterparts? Alternatively, they could be "true believers"? This worldview would also mean that blue-collar employees in the government are more skilled than their private sector counterparts, no?

bumby 3y ago

I think the general trend is that blue collar government employees tend to be well paid and have good benefits compared to private sector but the converse is often true for white collar employees, particularly professional jobs (engineers, lawyers, doctors etc.) If you disagree, take a look at govt SWE jobs postings.

bequanna 3y ago
Maybe white collar gov't workers are less skilled than their private sector counterparts? Alternatively, they could be "true believers"? There has to be some way to explain a pay discrepancy if it exists. How does one justify receiving a lower salary for the same amount of skill and work?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- ultraforce 3y ago
  I don't know if it's the case in the USA but in Canada it's generally considered within IT that you are underpaid but in return have decent benefits, a pension, and a lot more job security than private sector. Especially as Canada has had multiple large IT companies that collapsed.
- bumby 3y ago
  That could be. But I also think there are certain projects/work that you can only do in the govt. There are probably very few roles for doing fundamental astronomy science research outside of academia or government, for example. A physicist may turn down a higher paying gig in the financial sector because they want to spend their time studying fundamental physics. Others are probably conservative in nature and highly value the job security. Others, like you mention, may just not be able to cut it in the private sector. I suspect (admittedly without evidence) that someone in the NSA or Marines are not primarily driven by a paycheck. Maybe that's what you mean by "true believers"? You might need to define what you mean by "outrageously generous". I've worked in multiple public and private roles and, in general, the private ones were the ones with much more generous packages, in terms of pay and benefits.
- bumby 3y ago
  >Maybe white collar gov't workers are less skilled than their private sector counterparts? Alternatively, they could be "true believers"? This worldview would also mean that blue-collar employees in the government are more skilled than their private sector counterparts, no?