I've been a fed for many years, so a few months ago, when they offered the DRPs, I felt it was too soon to jump at the first sign of trouble.

I decided to give it some time, wait for the dust to settle, and switch divisions within my agency to see if there'd be any improvement by moving around.

Several weeks into my new role and nearly seven months into this administration, I have no doubt that I want to leave altogether. I simply can't shake the apathy, nor can I change my perspective or ignore the damage that's been and is being done. There's nowhere to run within the four walls that is safe; everything is corrupted.

With that, I am glad I didn't make any quick/rash decisions, but if they offer early retirement to my group (25 years), I am going to take it.

Here's a good one. We were told we were safe in a RIF, and we were. After months of anxiety, everyone was so relieved.

Then, a week later, they decided to announce a workflow change. Essentially 40% of our current workload will be shifted to another office. F these people, truly.

[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:I'm glad I chose to stay and stick it out. Much of the pressure from a few months ago has faded, despite the changes. I transferred to a less high-profile division, which has helped some with feeling conflicted with some of things I was seeing.

I have zero respect for this administration, but I've found a way to get through it by keeping my head down, doing my eight hours, and leaving.

Even traffic is better, although I think that's just because of summer and school being out.

I’m not a fed but this makes me so happy to see. I felt horrible for you all. Well, I still do, but I’m glad your situation has improved.

I was sad about leaving a university job for the private sector. Had worked there for many years. There are a couple aspects I still miss, but after a year or two it became: holy cow, the private sector is awesome, I would never go back to dealing with the insane bureaucracy that characterizes university life.

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to actually having to work for a living. It’s only going to get worse.

1 in 6 federal employees are/were doctors and nurses. They'd like you to learn what real work is.

Anonymous wrote:Another fed who left after 18 years because I couldn’t stomach it anymore under Trump 2. My job was very secure and I was extremely busy, but doing work I no longer felt proud of or good about. My agency’s mission went from acting in the public interest to political targeting and being instructed to act illegally. The office became extremely toxic. Life is too short.

Sounds like DOJ but it could be DHS

I worked in the federal government for almost 8 years and only 2 years were good. On paper- I loved the idea of the mission but the reality was much different. Plus I got stuck in a pay depression. I think the government employees are romanticizing their former roles. Yes, trump sucks and being a federal employee right now sucks- but it wasn’t that great before

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a sibling (incidentally a Republican but not a Trump supporter) who spent their whole career — 40 years — as a fed in one agency because they believed the work was inportant. The agency is now being drstpyed, my sibling is retiring and I think it is permanently affecting their outlook on life to feel that their life’s work is being dismantled in this way. It’s all very sad and it’s okay to feel sad about it. It’s normal to be upset and I wouldn’t expect that feeling to ever go away, although you may learn to live with it differently as time passes.

Just for fun , imagine you have worked hard for 20 years and were very good at your job , and then the company fired an entire division suddenly , and then the next week a group of H1bs from
Indian companies showed up to take their place . And then imagine that when you expressed your the opinion that h1b is not good for US citizens , you heard that others in the community did not care and thought h1b was great because we had a worker shortage

I really do have sympathy for your situation , next election join in the fight and let’s elect leaders that will promote policies that help US workers first and not h1bs and opts

DP, but I don’t think I know anyone who thinks h1b workers were a great thing. We all knew it was so rich people could save money on labor costs. There’s never been any pretext (at least widespread that I know of) that this was some sort of good for the American people.

Meanwhile the absolute vitriol toward feds and cheering of the destruction of federal programs by many of our fellow Americans has been disgusting. Imagine worshipping billionaires who would gladly leave you for dead on a street corner if it meant increasing their net worth by .01% while celebrating some GS-11 getting RIF’d.

I've never met anyone who wasn't an h1b visa holder who supported the program, and I'm a liberal Democrat. It exists to make wealthy people even more wealthy by abusing their workforce.

I'm really sad that so many Americans hate federal and state employees. Worked for years to make life better for my fellow citizens at a salary lower than private industry and this is what happens?

The federal / state government mission and job security were two of the only things keeping me in government jobs recently, and now those two motivations are gone.

I’ve worked with a ton of federal workers at different agencies. I went into these jobs thinking the majority were good people who wanted to help the country; over time I came to realize that those employees are a small fraction of the government employees out there. The majority I worked with were lazy and incompetent. Unfortunately as many have mentioned the ridiculous way this was handled won’t help to keep the good ones and eliminate the bad ones; probably the opposite as the good ones have marketable skills.

OP, I feel this. I'm still on the inside but am very conflicted about what to do. There are not easy answers and it's unclear how this will play out, but there is significant damage that will take decades to rebuild.

Another fed who left after 18 years because I couldn’t stomach it anymore under Trump 2. My job was very secure and I was extremely busy, but doing work I no longer felt proud of or good about. My agency’s mission went from acting in the public interest to political targeting and being instructed to act illegally. The office became extremely toxic. Life is too short.

Oops typo meant fields not goods

I have worked in the private sector for 30 years. 99.99% of people cheering for this carnage against Fed workers are folks in the private sector. Private sector workers are bitter, cynical, and just haters. Fed workers are not blame for the shitty work conditions and dehumanizing treatment that private sectors find themselves in.

I have never in my life seem this kind of hatred from one group of an American workers towards another. It's very sad.

And don't get me started with the lie that innovation come from the private sector. I urge anyone to do simple search about the critical work that government scientists have contributed to so critical foods.

We have some really good people with Phds from the best universities in this country who could have gone on Wall Street, big pharma or professor etc ...These people are invisible. The amazing economists at the commerce department or aviation experts at FAA, etc...NASA etc.

Sorry I am just pissed. So OP is right to be sad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question- I think if work for federal govt for 5 years are eligible to do govt health insurance if retire after those 5 years? Is that still true? If don’t retire but resign and get a job outside of fed govt, can you still do the govt health insurance? Or do you have to fully stop working to use it?

If you are above retirement age, you can start collecting your pension and health insurance benefits as soon as you leave the Fed Gov't. If you're below that age and stop working for the Federal gov't, you won't get the health insurance, either now or when you eventually do retire.

(I'm being deliberately vague with "retirement age." I know that as someone who has worked for the Fed Gov't for 10 years, my "retirement age" is 57 under "MRA + 10." I have no idea what the age might be for someone who worked only 5 years.)

Thank you for replies on the health insurance.

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to the real world which non feds have been dealing with for decades.

Welcome to the new world where we will have a non-functional government. Welcome to the world where what few protections working people had are now stripped away and civil servants who enforced regulations and checks on corporate greed are no more. No more consumer financial protections, no more worker safety protections, no more environmental protections— just corporations on the take running rampant and squeezing every dollar out of you in return for ever worsening products and services.

Enjoy no regulation of food and drugs and a totally broken healthcare system where only the rich get decent care.

You need to take your ignorant opinions and go away.

I feel the same way after a very meaningful 20 years in the federal government, still very invested in my work there and relationships. I'm very lucky that I left for a higher paid job in the private sector but I am absolutely grieving and bitter about how my federal career had to end.