No furloughs, but...

[Anonymous]

Me too: I might have had a shot at a QSI this year, but there's just no way right now. And when there is a bonus available I always take it in leave hours, not cash, but there will be no bonuses this year so I guess that's out too.

I hate when people say "be grateful you still have a job." That used to get tossed around a lot when I was in the private sector too, as an excuse for all kinds of shenanigans with pay and benefits. I am not immune from layoffs and of course I am better off now than if I were unemployed or at risk of becoming so. I like my job, I care about the mission, and I think the government is a great place to work. But it's not wrong to be disappointed when pay and reward structures change for the worse. And given the pay cut I and many others took to come from the private sector, it's not wrong to periodically reevaluate what we're getting in return for our time.

No, it isn't wrong to be disappointed. All of us are disappointed.

What is wrong is thinking that you are in some special class of people whose time is more worthwhile than anyone else's. To be fair, I can't be sure by your post that you are one of the entitled who thinks they sacrificed to work for the gov and are somehow worthy of special reward for that move.

Clearly, there was some self interest in jumping ship from the private sector. Maybe it was a family friendly atmosphere. Maybe it was security. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't because the feds needed just you and only you and you performed some public service by going fed and leaving behind your awesome private sector job.

So, you know, in the absence of you being very special. your situation is totally unremarkable. Your time isn't any more valuable than ours. The present situation sucks and you have only to look at Congress to lay blame. It sucks for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't because the feds needed just you and only you and you performed some public service by going fed and leaving behind your awesome private sector job.

That's true, but a large part of the reason I took this job was that I wanted to help people by furthering the mission of my agency. That is something that I value. However, I need to continue reassessing the benefit that it gives me vs. the compensation and benefits that I get. Every person, private and public sector, continues to make that assessment as their career goes along. If I leave, there will certainly be someone else willing to take my job, but (1) the Government probably won't be able to hire them for quite a while, and (2) that person won't have the seven years of experience doing what I do, so they'll have to train them. The Government and I will both survive either way.