Reply to Federal employees "working from home"

Forum Index » Jobs and Careers

Reply to "Federal employees "working from home""

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I worked for the government for 20 years. It’s interesting that the instinct of most posters on here is to defend WFH, the time the dad has with his kids, federal employee time-off benefits, etc. In other words, when confronted with the possibility of abuse, federal workers quickly rally around the flag. My experience with such knee-jerk responses is that many know there is abuse, but they don’t want light shed on it. Why? Because they do it too. They don’t want the gravy train to stop. Another typical response to such allegations is that federal employees need a break because they are underpaid. Again, this is all about distraction. For the work performed, many, many Federal employees are overpaid, especially when lifetime benefits are considered. This is even more egregious at the financial regulators. I know. Been there, done that. OP, what you describe is abuse and fraud. It has nothing to do with flexible work arrangements. Unfortunately, I could name you a dozen people from my former agency division that do as your ex does. Yes, they abuse the system. Any “jealousy” on your part is really outrage that this can be happening, and yes, a bit of “if this is how it works, why not me.”  But, this isn’t how it should work. You are right to question it. [/quote]

I think the bigger issue is that most of the work we do does not require a full 8 hours. Many meetings are a waste of time or redundant. There are many "bullshit" activities to take up time. I worked a bilingual (French) expert who did human capital planning. I still have no idea what she really did. Nothing about our office changed when she came or when she left. She was a GS 15. I think it is hard to crack the whip on employees when the work is immaterial and many jobs don't require the same type of labor as they once did. I have witnessed one task that used to take weeks to complete, now become completely automated. Those same people who did the job are still employed. Now a manager can assign new tasks but are those new tasks really helpful to the overall mission.

There are many "user experience" jobs in the Federal government that should really focus on the usability of external facing and public goods to help people access Federal services easier. Instead, people are making creative projects and tweaking graphic design branding.

Our office recently tossed away hundreds of dollars of office supplied purchased during the 2000s. Cabinets full of legal note pads, pens, staplers, pens etc.. Someone spent their time and energy purchasing these items assuming they would be used within 5-10 years. Almost 20 years later, all those purchases are going in the trash. Is the also fraud, waste and abuse?

I don't know if we really have any idea what work should look like now. Some people do work hard and their work is extremely important. Many people don't work hard because their work does not have an impact. Who really knows? How many jobs will be obsolete in 20 years?[/quote]

Thanks for a genuine and meaningful response. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics