Why so much vitriol toward Federal employees?

Anonymous
Ten years ago, when I first joined the Federal government, my private sector acquaintances called me stupid for accepting a lower salary in exchange for greater job security, good benefits and more meaningful work. Today, many these same acquaintances are broke, unemployed and suddenly calling me overpaid, even though statistics show that the most skilled and highly-educated Federal employees still earn significantly less than their private sector counterparts.

Seems to me like a bad case of sour grapes.

If those in the private sector think Federal jobs are so cushy and overcompensated, why did they not apply for themselves 10 years ago? Why not now? I guess actions speak louder than words. Or perhaps they're finding Uncle Sam's hiring standards are tougher than they realized?

Jealousy is such an ugly thing.






Anonymous
Why so much vitriol toward Federal employees?


Perhaps it's your (you specifically, not Feds in general) smug, told-you-so attitude.
Anonymous
Because many fed employees are lazy, don't do anything all day, have overly generous benefits and the country is running high deficits. I'm pretty confident we could eliminate 33% of the federal employees with no drop-off in service.

I remember when I interned with the EPA, people (especially the support staff) literally did nothing all day long and ran for the doors at 5pm. It was a joke.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Because many fed employees are lazy, don't do anything all day, have overly generous benefits and the country is running high deficits. I'm pretty confident we could eliminate 33% of the federal employees with no drop-off in service.

I remember when I interned with the EPA, people (especially the support staff) literally did nothing all day long and ran for the doors at 5pm. It was a joke.


This may well happen in the not so distant future.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Why so much vitriol toward Federal employees?


Perhaps it's your (you specifically, not Feds in general) smug, told-you-so attitude.


Let's get something straight. I'm simply reacting to some of the incredibly derogatory and mean-spirited comments that have been made about Federal employees in recent weeks. I most certainly didn't start this discourse, but I'm sick and tired of being attacked.

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote: ...fed employees are lazy, don't do anything all day, have overly generous benefits....


Wow, that sounds like a great deal. So why are you not a Fed?

Anonymous
OK, so when posters complain about how entitled Fed employees are acting about this COLA freeze, that means they are jealous?

So when people are critical of entitled behavior of union auto workers, are they jealous of them, too?

Hardly. Call it jealousy if it helps you sleep at night.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Why so much vitriol toward Federal employees?


Perhaps it's your (you specifically, not Feds in general) smug, told-you-so attitude.


Yep.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Why so much vitriol toward Federal employees?


Perhaps it's your (you specifically, not Feds in general) smug, told-you-so attitude.


Yep.


It's not even the "told you so" part. I'm still doing better than a federal salary and the attitude still stinks. It almost makes me hope for another government shutdown like they did in '94.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:OK, so when posters complain about how entitled Fed employees are acting about this COLA freeze, that means they are jealous?


Who said anything about the COLA? Don't kid yourself. You and I both know this nastiness toward Feds far pre-dated any discussion about the pay freeze.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I remember when I interned with the EPA, people (especially the support staff) literally did nothing all day long and ran for the doors at 5pm. It was a joke.


Saw the same thing at another government office. One person literally does maybe one hour of work at most everyday and spends the rest of the time on personal calls, surfing the internet, reading the paper, going to lunch, etc. Another one brought his own tv to work and watches that when he's not chit-chatting on personal calls or on his weekly three to six hour lunches.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I remember when I interned with the EPA, people (especially the support staff) literally did nothing all day long and ran for the doors at 5pm. It was a joke.


Saw the same thing at another government office. One person literally does maybe one hour of work at most everyday and spends the rest of the time on personal calls, surfing the internet, reading the paper, going to lunch, etc. Another one brought his own tv to work and watches that when he's not chit-chatting on personal calls or on his weekly three to six hour lunches.


Yeah, I remember when I used to work in the private sector. Our secretary was screwing the boss and so she got to do whatever she wanted. Mostly that meant filing her nails and balancing her checkbook. Some days we didn't even see her for more than an hour. She got a nice fat bonus every year too. Must be nice.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:

It's not even the "told you so" part. I'm still doing better than a federal salary and the attitude still stinks. It almost makes me hope for another government shutdown like they did in '94.


So any Fed who dares to defend themselves when they're called lazy and overcompensated has an attitude problem?

I don't personally have a problem with the pay freeze. I may not like it, but I'm willing to do my part. That doesn't mean I agree that I'm overpaid and it most definitely doesn't mean I'm going to roll over and let people who have no idea how hard I work or what I do all day, call me "lazy".

Anonymous
Maybe it's because you're supposed to be working for us, and yet every time you get a pay raise the decision is made unilaterally even though we're the ones paying for it? We're supposed to have either our taxes raised or the deficit extended to pay you more money despite the fact that we see no real value.

I don't think you should have a pay freeze. I think you should have a mandatory pay cut by about 10%.
Anonymous
How about a work quota system? That would help keep track of some of the productivity.
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