Why do people stay at jobs they don't like for so long?

[Elfear]

Government employees and jobs have a reputation for a reason, and after having known many, I can tell you that all those stories and anecdotes about incredible inefficiency, needless red tape,

Those reasons don't have anything to so with the average employee though and everything to do with working for an enormous organization called the govt. The average employee would love to cut through all the needless bureaucracy but alas, it's not up to them.

lazy people who aren’t fired for years (if ever), etc. seem fairly accurate. I’m not saying it applies to you, but from the stories I’ve heard from friends and relatives, I know I’d be able to put little effort into the job and never fear losing it. . My wife is a government employee and it certainly doesn’t apply to her either, but she also admits she can do a half-assed job and still be the star of her department due to the huge slacker:worker ratio.

In general I'd say you're correct from my experience with other govt employees. It is very hard to fire a govt employee, especially if the director/manager doesn't know what needs to happen in order to comply with the myriad of HR regulations. However, a competent manager can make things happen by documenting, documenting, documenting. In the 9yrs I've been with my current govt organization (~60 people), I've seen 4 people ousted for incompetence or laziness. There was red tape to be sure but my director took the steps and got rid of the dead weight (one came back and sued but it didn't go anywhere AFAIK).

As far as govt employees being lazy in general, my anecdotal evidence doesn't jive with that. There are lazy employees for sure, just like I'm sure you'd find in the private sector, but I'd only call a handful of employees in my organization lazy. It could be that the stereotype stems from govt employees 8hr work day (unless you're management). But there again that is a by-law limit bargained for by the unions. For most govt employees, if they work unpaid overtime, management can get in big trouble.

I'm not discounting your experience or that of your wife, just letting you know that's not always the norm.

 

[hasu]

- f

You're probably a government employee who read my post and was offended. I knew that would happen, but I won't apologize because in general, I'm correct. Maybe you're an exception to what I said (there are many) or maybe you're not - I really don't know or care.

Sorry to disappoint you, but consultants don't lack opportunities and the reason they "got in there to begin with" is because they sell a service and were hired to perform the service - if the employees could do the job themselves, no one would hire consultants. It isn't a consultant's job to teach company employees technology - consultants are only responsible for doing knowledge transfer for the solution(s) they implement unless they're specifically contracted to teach technology. Otherwise, if employees don't understand the technology, that's on them.

I actually did consult for one of the largest DMVs in the nation and I can assure you, none of the employees we dealt with "were as good" as the consultants. Nice people, yes, but nowhere near as technically adept as us. And that's fine - that's why we were hired.

Nope. I am not a government employee. But I know some government employees that I worked with in some earlier projects and they were as good as everyone else (within the limits how much they knew about the framework and such that were developed primarily for the project). Some people (internal employees) would say consultants wouldn't do a good job because they don't own the project. None of these can be generalized. You can find all sorts of people on either side.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I'm a govt. employee and the frequency of lazy asses in the government isn't any higher than in private companies. However, the gov't bureaucracy does foster a lack of accountability encouraging people to half ass things. The work is very hiearchical and never enough people or resources to go around so, getting jobs done quickly or postponed is the order of the day. Hence, the appearance of laziness.

 

[urvile]

Currently I am working on a government project and I am dealing with subject matter experts (they have PhDs) on the government side and they are all contractors/consultants. Because government doesn't pay enough for people with those types of qualifications and expertise. So the only way government can employ them is as contractors.

Just an observation.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I'm a govt. employee and the frequency of lazy asses in the government isn't any higher than in private companies. However, the gov't bureaucracy does foster a lack of accountability encouraging people to half ass things. The work is very hiearchical and never enough people or resources to go around so, getting jobs done quickly or postponed is the order of the day. Hence, the appearance of laziness.

Right, and the smart employees who are sick of the bureaucracy finally come to the conclusion to use the bureaucracy to their advantage.