Federal Govt an Artificial Job Market? Admin Changes, Private Sector Adjusts—Why Not Train for Portable Skills?

[Anonymous]

I get that the federal government seems upset about cutting staff and shifting directions, but is that just because they aren’t used to it?

Today I had to cut half of one manager’s team across multiple departments, letting go of 9 people because of budget and priority changes. They’re all technical staff, and their manager thinks they’re talented. While it’s tough, they’ll almost certainly land something soon since their skills are in demand. In the private sector, this kind of thing happens all the time, and while no one likes it, it’s just part of the reality. We’re giving them 30 days' notice, which is more than enough from a private sector viewpoint. Many companies give nothing, with employees discovering the same day they’re let go. So, it’s interesting to see how differently government workers react to job changes.

Thinking about the fork email, it seems like if I could give those employees 8 months of paid time to look for a job while doing nothing, they’d be thrilled. Is the outrage from the federal side just because government employees aren’t used to these kinds of shifts?

I also talked to a relative in their 70s who works for the government, and they’re actually excited about the deferred resignation deal. From their perspective, getting paid for 8 months without working before retiring is a dream scenario and a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of government jobs don’t have portable skills like IT or accounting that easily transfer to the private sector. I also see people who spend their entire careers managing government grants, foreign aid, and similar programs. It seems like these jobs exist mainly to process government functions that wouldn’t even need so much administration if the system were more efficient. If that’s the case, shouldn’t employees in these roles be training for portable skills instead of putting all their eggs in the federal government basket?

And if government priorities shift, isn’t it normal for those employees to look elsewhere? If we’re cutting foreign spending or shoring up the border, wouldn’t it make sense for them to move to agencies in demand instead of expecting a lifetime job in a field that changes with each administration?

Like, if a job was focused on managing the Pony Express mail system back in the day, and then new technology made it obsolete, shouldn’t people in those roles have expected that focus to stop instead of assuming they’d do it forever?

[Anonymous]

We have a process for laying off feds whose skills aren't needed. It has been used many times as the government has evolved. It is not being followed right now.

There are good reasons to believe OPM cannot actually deliver on the 8 months of admin leave. We'll see.

But most importantly, these are not obsolete functions. These are very needed, congressionally directed functions and people are sad and scared about what it means for our country if they are removed. The fact something has no equivalent in the private sector does not make it useless. The government does almost exclusively things the private sector can't or won't, and it does them according to a bunch of rules that guarantee fairness and accountability that the private sector doesn't have to, because we're dealing with tax dollars and prosecution and diplomacy and other things that don't exist in private sector. You are basically asking why doctors don't cross train as software engineers.

[Anonymous]

TRY HARDER, DOGE TROLLS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a process for laying off feds whose skills aren't needed. It has been used many times as the government has evolved. It is not being followed right now.

There are good reasons to believe OPM cannot actually deliver on the 8 months of admin leave. We'll see.

But most importantly, these are not obsolete functions. These are very needed, congressionally directed functions and people are sad and scared about what it means for our country if they are removed. The fact something has no equivalent in the private sector does not make it useless. The government does almost exclusively things the private sector can't or won't, and it does them according to a bunch of rules that guarantee fairness and accountability that the private sector doesn't have to, because we're dealing with tax dollars and prosecution and diplomacy and other things that don't exist in private sector. You are basically asking why doctors don't cross train as software engineers.

Taking your example about doctors, they could use their experience and skills in taking a job with a pharma company, medical sales, university professor, etc., or other jobs medically related. Aren't their job skills transferable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get that the federal government seems upset about cutting staff and shifting directions, but is that just because they aren’t used to it?

Today I had to cut half of one manager’s team across multiple departments, letting go of 9 people because of budget and priority changes. They’re all technical staff, and their manager thinks they’re talented. While it’s tough, they’ll almost certainly land something soon since their skills are in demand. In the private sector, this kind of thing happens all the time, and while no one likes it, it’s just part of the reality. We’re giving them 30 days' notice, which is more than enough from a private sector viewpoint. Many companies give nothing, with employees discovering the same day they’re let go. So, it’s interesting to see how differently government workers react to job changes.

Thinking about the fork email, it seems like if I could give those employees 8 months of paid time to look for a job while doing nothing, they’d be thrilled. Is the outrage from the federal side just because government employees aren’t used to these kinds of shifts?

I also talked to a relative in their 70s who works for the government, and they’re actually excited about the deferred resignation deal. From their perspective, getting paid for 8 months without working before retiring is a dream scenario and a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of government jobs don’t have portable skills like IT or accounting that easily transfer to the private sector. I also see people who spend their entire careers managing government grants, foreign aid, and similar programs. It seems like these jobs exist mainly to process government functions that wouldn’t even need so much administration if the system were more efficient. If that’s the case, shouldn’t employees in these roles be training for portable skills instead of putting all their eggs in the federal government basket?

And if government priorities shift, isn’t it normal for those employees to look elsewhere? If we’re cutting foreign spending or shoring up the border, wouldn’t it make sense for them to move to agencies in demand instead of expecting a lifetime job in a field that changes with each administration?

Like, if a job was focused on managing the Pony Express mail system back in the day, and then new technology made it obsolete, shouldn’t people in those roles have expected that focus to stop instead of assuming they’d do it forever?

But they did not offer targeted outs to areas that they want to cut. They are just randomly offering it to everyone (almost). Close the national parks and let the staff go...that would make sense.

[Anonymous]

It's civil service. Some people are actually into being party of the government and doing a mission and supporting the point of government.

[Anonymous]

how do you “train for portable skills” if your job is in a highly niche area that only exists in your agency?

[Anonymous]

I think a more orderly and thoughtful reduction in force would be far more acceptable. I think very few feds would agree that we have no excess that could be cut.

But this process might as well have been done by my teen sons. It’s so ham handed and inconsistent. DOGE is running around screaming “Op” at everyone just like my 13 year old. It doesn’t inspire much confidence in the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a process for laying off feds whose skills aren't needed. It has been used many times as the government has evolved. It is not being followed right now.

There are good reasons to believe OPM cannot actually deliver on the 8 months of admin leave. We'll see.

But most importantly, these are not obsolete functions. These are very needed, congressionally directed functions and people are sad and scared about what it means for our country if they are removed. The fact something has no equivalent in the private sector does not make it useless. The government does almost exclusively things the private sector can't or won't, and it does them according to a bunch of rules that guarantee fairness and accountability that the private sector doesn't have to, because we're dealing with tax dollars and prosecution and diplomacy and other things that don't exist in private sector. You are basically asking why doctors don't cross train as software engineers.

Taking your example about doctors, they could use their experience and skills in taking a job with a pharma company, medical sales, university professor, etc., or other jobs medically related. Aren't their job skills transferable?

What? No. Doctors are not research scientists, salespeople, or teachers. They’re not trained for any of those roles and they don’t have experience or skills in any of those roles.

Like all people supporting this administration, your main problem is that you are not nearly as intelligent as you think you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a process for laying off feds whose skills aren't needed. It has been used many times as the government has evolved. It is not being followed right now.

There are good reasons to believe OPM cannot actually deliver on the 8 months of admin leave. We'll see.

But most importantly, these are not obsolete functions. These are very needed, congressionally directed functions and people are sad and scared about what it means for our country if they are removed. The fact something has no equivalent in the private sector does not make it useless. The government does almost exclusively things the private sector can't or won't, and it does them according to a bunch of rules that guarantee fairness and accountability that the private sector doesn't have to, because we're dealing with tax dollars and prosecution and diplomacy and other things that don't exist in private sector. You are basically asking why doctors don't cross train as software engineers.

Taking your example about doctors, they could use their experience and skills in taking a job with a pharma company, medical sales, university professor, etc., or other jobs medically related. Aren't their job skills transferable?

are you actually suggesting someone with an MD go into medical sales? Do you know how much time and money doctors spend getting trained? Having them in sales would be an exceptionally inefficient allocation of extremely scarce resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:how do you “train for portable skills” if your job is in a highly niche area that only exists in your agency?

You should learn to clean bathrooms and dig ditches, according to OP.

[Anonymous]

It’s because it’s a politicized purge based on the stated desire to “torture” civil servants. And the job market in DC will be flooded with people with the same set of specialized skills now trying to fit into whatever private sector job might make sense. It’s going to be a disaster in this region purposelyfully designed to be punishing, not to improve efficiency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how do you “train for portable skills” if your job is in a highly niche area that only exists in your agency?

You should learn to clean bathrooms and dig ditches, according to OP.

Or be a doctor. Train for portable skills.

It's all portable, according to OP. She just fired a bunch of people. She's so smart!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get that the federal government seems upset about cutting staff and shifting directions, but is that just because they aren’t used to it?

Today I had to cut half of one manager’s team across multiple departments, letting go of 9 people because of budget and priority changes. They’re all technical staff, and their manager thinks they’re talented. While it’s tough, they’ll almost certainly land something soon since their skills are in demand. In the private sector, this kind of thing happens all the time, and while no one likes it, it’s just part of the reality. We’re giving them 30 days' notice, which is more than enough from a private sector viewpoint. Many companies give nothing, with employees discovering the same day they’re let go. So, it’s interesting to see how differently government workers react to job changes.

Thinking about the fork email, it seems like if I could give those employees 8 months of paid time to look for a job while doing nothing, they’d be thrilled. Is the outrage from the federal side just because government employees aren’t used to these kinds of shifts?

I also talked to a relative in their 70s who works for the government, and they’re actually excited about the deferred resignation deal. From their perspective, getting paid for 8 months without working before retiring is a dream scenario and a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of government jobs don’t have portable skills like IT or accounting that easily transfer to the private sector. I also see people who spend their entire careers managing government grants, foreign aid, and similar programs. It seems like these jobs exist mainly to process government functions that wouldn’t even need so much administration if the system were more efficient. If that’s the case, shouldn’t employees in these roles be training for portable skills instead of putting all their eggs in the federal government basket?

And if government priorities shift, isn’t it normal for those employees to look elsewhere? If we’re cutting foreign spending or shoring up the border, wouldn’t it make sense for them to move to agencies in demand instead of expecting a lifetime job in a field that changes with each administration?

Like, if a job was focused on managing the Pony Express mail system back in the day, and then new technology made it obsolete, shouldn’t people in those roles have expected that focus to stop instead of assuming they’d do it forever?

Why did you do that? Are you not able to find other positions for these people within your company, are there no other teams with open spaces or that are looking to expand? Seems like bad management.

[Anonymous]

OP, respectfully...go fork yourself.