Why do some private sector workers hate Fed workers so much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They watch YouTube all day and eat Doritos while “working” from home. They do errands, shop online, take a nap, walk the dog…it’s bullshit.

People can waste tons of time in an office too. There is no magic about being in an office that prevents laziness. Just like there is no magic that prevents productivity while working from a home office.
In fact, I waste more time in the office because my commute is exhausting and I need extra time to chill and recharge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, it’s probably jealousy. I think I am jealous that all of you have this unpaid vacation. Sure some of you have to work so life March is on but lots of you have this gift of paid time off.

Something like 75% of us are still working and the remaining 25% are unable to file for unemployment in many states and now have to worry they will never get backpay. Or that they will be RIF’d.

Yay! What a vacation.

The first week was a vacation. Now my new job is figuring out how to pay rent, medical bills, and childcare while not knowing if or when paychecks will come. We canceled our dog walker, but we can't take kids out of childcare and expect to get back in later. My spouse is still working with no paycheck, so at least one of us can save money by cooking from scratch. There is going to be a hellish backlog at my agency when the government reopens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, it’s probably jealousy. I think I am jealous that all of you have this unpaid vacation. Sure some of you have to work so life March is on but lots of you have this gift of paid time off.

Something like 75% of us are still working and the remaining 25% are unable to file for unemployment in many states and now have to worry they will never get backpay. Or that they will be RIF’d.

Yay! What a vacation.

The first week was a vacation. Now my new job is figuring out how to pay rent, medical bills, and childcare while not knowing if or when paychecks will come. We canceled our dog walker, but we can't take kids out of childcare and expect to get back in later. My spouse is still working with no paycheck, so at least one of us can save money by cooking from scratch. There is going to be a hellish backlog at my agency when the government reopens.

Dog walker? Why do you need one if you are at home all the time? This is what many of my fed neighbors did...so much in fact, the dog started hating them!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jealously. Politicians have found a clever way to make Americans hate each other for no good reasons. This divide and conquer mentality is sadly working.

. . .

Agree, although sadly this has become the democrats’ playbook. It’s known as “identity politics” and it works by dividing Americans into identities. For example, they demand to know:

- what class are you?
- what income bracket are you?
- what race are you? (BIPOC or white? Or maybe “white-Latino” or “LatinX”?)
- which one of the 56 genders are you?
- which of the two colors is your home-state?
- what are your pronouns? (mine are )
- are you normal, or religious? (which religion are you?)

So tired of the constant divisiveness from the democrats. It’s exhausting.

Who is "demanding" this of you? Please give one example.

The thing that exhausts me is the constant imaginary grievances.

Um - I am guessing you don’t have children and have never had to fill out a form over the last 40 years.

I'm a parent and have no idea what you're talking about.
Some of the daycamps we use have demographic surveys, although nothing very detailed, and you can opt not to respond. Do you think "the Democrats" made the daycamps put those in?

I'd love to know what form asks for your class, the color of your home state, or whether you are "normal or religious." LOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, it’s probably jealousy. I think I am jealous that all of you have this unpaid vacation. Sure some of you have to work so life March is on but lots of you have this gift of paid time off.

Something like 75% of us are still working and the remaining 25% are unable to file for unemployment in many states and now have to worry they will never get backpay. Or that they will be RIF’d.

Yay! What a vacation.

The first week was a vacation. Now my new job is figuring out how to pay rent, medical bills, and childcare while not knowing if or when paychecks will come. We canceled our dog walker, but we can't take kids out of childcare and expect to get back in later. My spouse is still working with no paycheck, so at least one of us can save money by cooking from scratch. There is going to be a hellish backlog at my agency when the government reopens.

Dog walker? Why do you need one if you are at home all the time? This is what many of my fed neighbors did...so much in fact, the dog started hating them!

Like many Feds, we hired a dog walker this winter when both of us had to return to the office every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As you can tell from this thread, it’s mostly due to jealousy, wanting what others have — job security, more humane working hours.

I don’t have worse hours than a fed worker and I don’t need to go in 5 days per week. Maybe my day is more fast paced? Nothing I can’t handle. So not jealous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When private sector people get let go, downsized or fired, there is no sympathy, and it is just another day. When federal employees, who get paid back, or for a load there is a lot of woah is me and hand wringing. They will be OK. It’s more of a well now it’s your turn to feel what we’ve all felt before.

exactly, i have watched so many co workers get fired and then cheap H1Bs show up the next week.

and none of the feds cared.

now it is your turn to see what our culture has become.

Not caring is a blessing. A lot of them went out of their way to accuse us for low performing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As you can tell from this thread, it’s mostly due to jealousy, wanting what others have — job security, more humane working hours.

I don’t have worse hours than a fed worker and I don’t need to go in 5 days per week. Maybe my day is more fast paced? Nothing I can’t handle. So not jealous.

Oh so you’re just a bootlicker for the fun of it. Gotcha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When private sector people get let go, downsized or fired, there is no sympathy, and it is just another day. When federal employees, who get paid back, or for a load there is a lot of woah is me and hand wringing. They will be OK. It’s more of a well now it’s your turn to feel what we’ve all felt before.

exactly, i have watched so many co workers get fired and then cheap H1Bs show up the next week.

and none of the feds cared.

now it is your turn to see what our culture has become.

Not caring is a blessing. A lot of them went out of their way to accuse us for low performing.

What is more likely, that they went out of their way to "accuse" you of being low performing or that you were actually low performing?

[Anonymous]

Federal workers are every bit as hardworking and talented as private sector workers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As you can tell from this thread, it’s mostly due to jealousy, wanting what others have — job security, more humane working hours.

I don’t have worse hours than a fed worker and I don’t need to go in 5 days per week. Maybe my day is more fast paced? Nothing I can’t handle. So not jealous.

Oh so you’re just a bootlicker for the fun of it. Gotcha.

You sound jelly 🤣

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When private sector people get let go, downsized or fired, there is no sympathy, and it is just another day. When federal employees, who get paid back, or for a load there is a lot of woah is me and hand wringing. They will be OK. It’s more of a well now it’s your turn to feel what we’ve all felt before.

exactly, i have watched so many co workers get fired and then cheap H1Bs show up the next week.

and none of the feds cared.

now it is your turn to see what our culture has become.

Not caring is a blessing. A lot of them went out of their way to accuse us for low performing.

What is more likely, that they went out of their way to "accuse" you of being low performing or that you were actually low performing?

Umm I always work at top firms and make high salaries, my bosses (7 of them) must be idiots then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't hate them, but they have everything going for them, and some still seem broke and complaining here.
My earned income averages $30k since 1996. Between no raises and wage theft, I still managed to retire years before 50.
Don't complain about money. Concentrate on making it last once you take it home. I doubt the pay is minimum wage.

What do you mean by “wage theft” ??

this would appear to be the immigrant service worker poster who picked herself up by her bootstraps and has made millions by playing the stock market, it's super easy!

anyway, the conditions of my federal job that is currently not paying me are that i basically can't buy stocks or bitcoin, primarily can only hold broad mutual funds, and i have to ask permission before i buy or sell those too. even now.

basic facts: 40% of federal workers are veterans. before 2025, only 15% lived in the greater dc area, that number is a lot lower now. folks that are not federal workers historically have seemed frustrated at how hard it was to get a federal job; it is a lot easier to tell oneself that those folks who have dedicated their life to civil service are just privileged, lazy jerks than dedicated workers who have long accepted lower wages in return for now-destroyed job security.

i've spent 35 years in the workforce: 5 years in the private sector, 15 years in startups/tech/silicon valley, 5 years in academia, 10 years in federal service. the federal service has been where i have consistently worked with the best people. i've never been physically assaulted, sexually harassed, or threatened and intimidated-- not something i can say about my private sector work experience.

in the private sector, as a salaried employee, i could legally work 5 hours or less a day if i got my tasks done. in the federal service, i can't do that; i have to work 8 hours a day and attest to that on my timesheet. in the private sector, i could and did earn stock options and trade stocks for significant extra income- can't do that now. in the private sector, if my employer went bankrupt or got acquired or just did a RIF (those things happened at least 5 times over my career) no one mocked me or cheered it on, unlike now.

there's something very wrong with this country right now, but it's not the fault of the federal workers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As you can tell from this thread, it’s mostly due to jealousy, wanting what others have — job security, more humane working hours.

I don’t have worse hours than a fed worker and I don’t need to go in 5 days per week. Maybe my day is more fast paced? Nothing I can’t handle. So not jealous.

Oh so you’re just a bootlicker for the fun of it. Gotcha.

You sound jelly 🤣

Jelly of what? I work remotely.

[Anonymous]

No not jealous. Just pissed off at some (but not all) feds who feel entitled and are lazy hanging around collecting a check. Never had interest in seeking a fed gig. My late father was a fed so I’m well aware of the benefits. Not (never) for me. As a taxpayers, we are pissed off, not jealous of Fed workers. Get it?