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this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2024
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It should be noted that this shift has happened in the last 30 years or so. Before that civil servants were the norm and contractors the exception. Civil service used to be a very good job that had some of the best benefits you could find, including some of the last remaining pension programs. You could live a very decent middle class life being a civil servant. Contractors are no cheaper for the government but it does move the liability from them to a 3rd party private employer. And now all the money goes to the business men who get the contracts and pay their employees a pittance with nearly no benefits.
Everything you said is still true. As long as you are an office worker that's all correct. The government does still contact out most work but most offices still have plenty of government employees. It's just now the government is more of an oversight and managerial role for 80% of it's employees. Besides things like hr and finance. It'd be nice if the government actually did things again.
Outside of leave accrual (which is still inferior compared to the EU), benefits and pay for the average government worker aren't really any better at this point. Plenty of supervisors pulling 100-150K+, but that usually also includes having to live in high cost of living areas like DC.
The best benefit is you can't be terminated without reason. It takes real, documented issues to terminate someone. Very good job security.
On GS and GG plans you get both cost of living adjustments (depends on wh or Congress) and you get regular raises with step increases.
The leave is excellent. 4-8hr/2 weeks. And 4 hours sick, no cap. They also can't deny leave without a reason and rescheduling.
Health insurance plans are pretty good. HDHP, CO pay, deductible, multiple agencies.
Pension is a big one. Being able to retire and have a pension, social security, and 5% matching savings plan (traditional and Roth) is pretty much unheard of.
You also probably have union representation depending on your agency.
Biggest downside is pay. If you're technical or very competitive you'll not make as much. There's a cap on civilian pay due to a stupid law saying you can't earn more than the vice president, so every rank is staggered below that. They really need to consolidate ranks below gs5. Those are poverty wages.
Pension is part of it, but having access to fed gov health insurance after you retire is bigger. My brother retired a FedGov critter and my IRA and 401k from years of corporate work will exceed his pension... But not his insurance.
Also jealous of his stability and the "retire at 45, start a new life" angle
Oof, that is a very good point. The retirement benefits are huuuuge. That said, I have very little trust that these benefits will not be whittled away to nothing by the time I qualify for them.
If they're still there by the time i hit retirement age (65 ish now, might be higher later), awesome, but I'm not going to make plans based on that assumption.
Yeah, I always forget about carrying the insurance over. My parents have quote a few complaints about Medicare.
How did he retire at 45? Did his agency approve VERA after 25 years?