State workers still enjoy advantage over private employees

chewmylegoff

lostinrates wrote: »

Yep. Everyone has the right to them. But everyone also has the right to be on the redundancy list! My husbands holiday days (21 plus bank holidays) are probably all going to be used this year, but it will be the second time in the time he has worked for his employers that has happened.

Just like he works at weekends when he has to, and evenings, nights etc. Going the extra mile counts in some areas of private sector, npot necessarily to advance you, but to keep your job. Won't be long before some one points out he cannot work all those hours because an eu work hours directive. Pffft.

Yes, although your OH has chosen to work in a particularly high pressure sector of his profession where long hours are expected, and rewarded by excellent pay. US law firms are not exactly typical of the private sector in this country, or even of professional services firms in this country. Plenty of solicitors in the private sector making good money and working not very hard at all.

ruggedtoast

jbreckmckye wrote: »

> private sector more efficient than public

I've worked with organizations from both spheres, and I can assure you that large private organizations are just as poorly-managed and inefficient as their public counterparts. Of course I'm not at liberty to name names (unfortunately, I chose my real name as my handle on the forums), but you'd be amazed at what goes off.

Inefficiency and politics are traits of large organizations, not public ones.



What if I told you that the NHS spend per capita is half the total private health spend per capita in the United States of America?

Oh good grief, dont try and reason with them, especially not using facts. Facts that challenge their prejudice make them really angry.

lostinrates

chewmylegoff wrote: »

Yes, although your OH has chosen to work in a particularly high pressure sector of his profession where long hours are expected, and rewarded by excellent pay. US law firms are not exactly typical of the private sector in this country, or even of professional services firms in this country. Plenty of solicitors in the private sector making good money and working not very hard at all.

Agreed.

Of course, things are tougher in high pressure, or high ends, of most sectors. For example, my father worked most of his career in high pressure public sector, then high pressure private sector. The latter was better financially rewarded (and hours in both were appalling and perhaps atypical of both sectors? ) but he got pretty much to the top of both the areas he worked in.

If you are going to be a person with high aims and abition and a work ethic to fit perhaps its only sensible to opt for one where you get better paid for the the work you put in, where as if you are a person with better work life balance aims and a less knife edge existance it seems there is a different choice to make.

So.......perhaps current balance ain't far from wrong for workers?

grizzly1911

jbreckmckye wrote: »

> private sector more efficient than public

I've worked with organizations from both spheres, and I can assure you that large private organizations are just as poorly-managed and inefficient as their public counterparts. Of course I'm not at liberty to name names (unfortunately, I chose my real name as my handle on the forums), but you'd be amazed at what goes off.

Inefficiency and politics are traits of large organizations, not public ones.

What this poster says.

A large private organisation may just be in front, in shuffling the deck, it doesn't mean it plays any better.

ruggedtoast

To my knowledge both the private and public sectors are staffed by people, and people are generally awful.

There are many differences within the public sector as to make the distinction almost meaningless. Someone whose job is data entry in the council is a public sector worker, as is a paramedic trying to stop a child bleeding to death amidst the carnage of a road traffic accident.

I worked for a government organisation for a while as a temp. The floor I worked on was probably like everything people hear about public sector waste and get angry about. People would spend all day on the internet, have meetings to discuss meetings, turn up hours late and go home early. One guy spent every evening sitting at his terminal until 8 building up overtime at time and a half to extend a long holiday he wanted to take.

The floor above us was manic, constantly short staffed, people working unpaid overtime, working at home, they were doing a really important job and trying not to screw it up under the oversight of politically appointed managers that would have been funny were they not so inept and vindictive.

Very few of any of us were on more than £20k a year. Then the inevitable yearly restructure came around and after months of chaos none of the senior managers were touched, the operational staff had their workloads doubled and the organisation became very top heavy with highly paid people waiting to draw their pensions, while offloading work to much more junior people and constantly searching for ways to pay them less. A pattern I see repeated all over the public sector now.

headcone

Please someone/anyone explain to me why they choose jobs in the private sector as opposed to the land of milk and honey public sector i am genuinely confused.

A._Badger

headcone wrote: »

Please someone/anyone explain to me why they choose jobs in the private sector as opposed to the land of milk and honey public sector i am genuinely confused.

Self-respect? The need for a challenge?

molerat

headcone wrote: »

Please someone/anyone explain to me why they choose jobs in the private sector as opposed to the land of milk and honey public sector i am genuinely confused.

Because it is hard work getting into the closed shop jobs for life club from outside unless you start at the very bottom. Been there 3 times and not saying it because I didn't get the job but because of who did get the job.

I know someone who worked for a local council. We used to receive e-mails from them all day long, the pass it round funnys. They commented how at 4.45 they were all sitting at their desks with their coats and bags waiting for the bell to go just like at school. The department was later outsourced, 25% took the option of redundancy and were not replaced. Now 33% of the remainder have been made redundant. This means that the department is running at 50% of the original staffing level and the new employer has added another contract to the workload. Says it all really.

FTBFun

headcone wrote: »

Please someone/anyone explain to me why they choose jobs in the private sector as opposed to the land of milk and honey public sector i am genuinely confused.

I get rewarded from doing a good job rather than seniority.

Anecdote time: my brother works for a government organisation and secured €1 million of funding from the EU for a particular project - however he has to apply for a position on that project as it wouldn't be "fair" for him to automatically get a position on that project, despite him being the one bringing in the funding in the first place. :mad:

hildosaver

A._Badger wrote: »

Self-respect? The need for a challenge?

Yes in many ways being a nurse, paramedic, social worker, teacher, etc are neither challenging nor worthy of any respect as jobs. Very good point and well put. I'm sure the pursuit of generating wealth for other people is both challenging because 90% of people won't ever make the big bucks in the private sector and it must be wonderful to feel soo valued.