Coping with despair

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What skills do you have that aren't tied to fake DC jobs

Op is a highly educated professional that can get a job easily. And that is exactly why you hate OP.

[Anonymous]

I started watching House of the Dragon.

[Anonymous]

I’ve been watching Severance (re-binged the 1st season and caught up on season 2) and am pretending my innie is dealing with all this.

Sort of joking, but also there I some truth to turning off work at the end of the day. Easier said than done I know, I’m having a hard time shutting it off myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now that I’m in the office every day I’m packing a gym bag and spending up to an hour mid day in the office gym. I hadn’t been going for a while and it does lift my spirits. At least I’ll be in good shape when I’m unemployed

I'm not back yet, but this is my plan as well.

[Anonymous]

I'm indulging a little in some minor self-destructive behavior- drinking a bit, eating comfort food and going to bed early. I'm pushing myself slowly to turn it around. I know I need to find healthier ways (exercise, breathing, being creative are my go-tos) to cope with the sadness and anxiety but for now, I'm letting myself wallow a little.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been watching Severance (re-binged the 1st season and caught up on season 2) and am pretending my innie is dealing with all this.

Sort of joking, but also there I some truth to turning off work at the end of the day. Easier said than done I know, I’m having a hard time shutting it off myself.

I got seriously ill when I was a teenager and how I got through it was telling myself if I made it to Fridays I got to watch my TV shows (at the time, Battlestar Galactica). Severance kind of does that right now.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, it sucks, but it’s just putting Federal workers on a level footing with the vast majority of Americans. Why should Feds have more job security than the rest of us? Maybe it’s time for all Americans to have better workers rights, but I don’t think Feds should be some protected class. If eliminating Federal jobs leads to better efficiencies and cost savings for taxpayers, then so be it.

[Anonymous]

I’m one of the people that got moved out of DC in Trump 1.0 and can completely empathize with the feeling that your mission/higher purpose has been ripped from you. It sucks and I still don’t forgive the people I thought I served. They turned out to be pretty awful, directly to my face.

Anyway, it helped me to look for other jobs and ponder how to market my skill set. It turned out that I didn’t have trouble finding a job, albeit it was in a different (but still fulfilling) area. Don’t sell what you have accomplished and what you can do short.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, it sucks, but it’s just putting Federal workers on a level footing with the vast majority of Americans. Why should Feds have more job security than the rest of us? Maybe it’s time for all Americans to have better workers rights, but I don’t think Feds should be some protected class. If eliminating Federal jobs leads to better efficiencies and cost savings for taxpayers, then so be it.

Why would you think it would create better efficiencies and cost savings for taxpayers? Contrary to popular belief, most federal workers are working at jobs to do things that Congress has directed the government to do. How’s all that stuff going to get done? The federal jobs piece is kind of the minor piece of what’s going on - the real issue is what won’t happen without people doing the work.

Sure, make it more efficient to fire low performers, most Feds are on board with that (although it actually isn’t impossible now) but this is just taking a ton of expertise on incredibly complex issues and throwing it out the window.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, it sucks, but it’s just putting Federal workers on a level footing with the vast majority of Americans. Why should Feds have more job security than the rest of us? Maybe it’s time for all Americans to have better workers rights, but I don’t think Feds should be some protected class. If eliminating Federal jobs leads to better efficiencies and cost savings for taxpayers, then so be it.

Why would you think it would create better efficiencies and cost savings for taxpayers? Contrary to popular belief, most federal workers are working at jobs to do things that Congress has directed the government to do. How’s all that stuff going to get done? The federal jobs piece is kind of the minor piece of what’s going on - the real issue is what won’t happen without people doing the work.

Sure, make it more efficient to fire low performers, most Feds are on board with that (although it actually isn’t impossible now) but this is just taking a ton of expertise on incredibly complex issues and throwing it out the window.

But you’re missing the point: why should Feds have better job security than the private sector? Answer: they shouldn’t. And since they have essentially been unfireable for decades, there are surely many we can do without.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, it sucks, but it’s just putting Federal workers on a level footing with the vast majority of Americans. Why should Feds have more job security than the rest of us? Maybe it’s time for all Americans to have better workers rights, but I don’t think Feds should be some protected class. If eliminating Federal jobs leads to better efficiencies and cost savings for taxpayers, then so be it.

Because good people won’t work as feds if every 4 years this is liable to happen. That’s why the merit based civil service was formed. You’ll have to raise the pay to above private levels to compensate for that uncertainty. Plus the greater job security ensures expertise is not lost every 4 years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I worked 10 years in the best job I ever had at a small Legislative Branch Agency that was world renowned for the quality of our work. But the Republican Revolution in 1994 defunded us. Not abolished, that would take a law. They just zeroed out our appropriation. It was under $50 million a year. Our work, even mine, is still cited as authoritative. We were forward looking for the long term. Congress wanted a sound bite for next election and chose lobbyists as sources.
I got another job right away but mourned. For 10 years I had gotten out of metro, looked down the street at the Capitol, and my soul went yesssss!
Being thrown away like trash hurt.
But we survived.

OTA! Thank you for your service.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, it sucks, but it’s just putting Federal workers on a level footing with the vast majority of Americans. Why should Feds have more job security than the rest of us? Maybe it’s time for all Americans to have better workers rights, but I don’t think Feds should be some protected class. If eliminating Federal jobs leads to better efficiencies and cost savings for taxpayers, then so be it.

Why would you think it would create better efficiencies and cost savings for taxpayers? Contrary to popular belief, most federal workers are working at jobs to do things that Congress has directed the government to do. How’s all that stuff going to get done? The federal jobs piece is kind of the minor piece of what’s going on - the real issue is what won’t happen without people doing the work.

Sure, make it more efficient to fire low performers, most Feds are on board with that (although it actually isn’t impossible now) but this is just taking a ton of expertise on incredibly complex issues and throwing it out the window.

But you’re missing the point: why should Feds have better job security than the private sector? Answer: they shouldn’t. And since they have essentially been unfireable for decades, there are surely many we can do without.

A few months ago I might have agreed with you. In general, I think it should be much easier to fire low performers in the federal government. And reducing some of the civil service protections seems like a necessary part of that.

But this administration demonstrates the problem with that. They're not going after low performers. They're just trying to punish people they don't like and who they can't control.

Also remember that the justification for lower compensation for highly-skilled, professional federal employees has been based on the idea that the jobs were more secure/stable because of those protections. Are you willing to pay cybersecurity engineers and lawyers what the Fortune 500 companies pay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, it sucks, but it’s just putting Federal workers on a level footing with the vast majority of Americans. Why should Feds have more job security than the rest of us? Maybe it’s time for all Americans to have better workers rights, but I don’t think Feds should be some protected class. If eliminating Federal jobs leads to better efficiencies and cost savings for taxpayers, then so be it.

You’re a dumbass

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, it sucks, but it’s just putting Federal workers on a level footing with the vast majority of Americans. Why should Feds have more job security than the rest of us? Maybe it’s time for all Americans to have better workers rights, but I don’t think Feds should be some protected class. If eliminating Federal jobs leads to better efficiencies and cost savings for taxpayers, then so be it.

Because good people won’t work as feds if every 4 years this is liable to happen. That’s why the merit based civil service was formed. You’ll have to raise the pay to above private levels to compensate for that uncertainty. Plus the greater job security ensures expertise is not lost every 4 years

Also, extremely important point that many are glossing over — feds have protections that private sector employees don’t have because we serve the constitution not the president. If a president is violating the law, civil servant needs to be protected from being dismissed simply for voicing dissent. Or worse, refusing to obey illegal orders. It’s happening already. Most Americans have not a clue. It’s the saddest I’ve been about the state of our country.