Public vs Private

AubreyMac

Which do you work for?


If you've worked for both, which do you prefer?


I have worked for both but currently work for public. After years as a temp in various private companies, I can see public is such a different atmosphere in that it's more relaxing and friendly because it's not so profit orientated.


I have been told that public has better holidays and pensions but I don't know for sure if that is true.


Only downside to public is the low pay and lack of bonuses. The payrise system is a set amount too which is not negotiable.

DKLS

Have worked in both but prefer Private.

Mainly as it drove me nuts to see huge piles of tax payers money being wasted by incompetents public sector mgt.

surreysaver

It must be really easy work in the public sector. They spend so much time moaning and whining about everything. If it was that bad, you wouldn't have time to moan and whine.

AubreyMac

It is very political, yes.


Management always re-organise the lower level workers, deleting posts and recruiting what is essentially the same role but 2 grades lower. Yet the top end re-organise and create promotions!


Here is the first place I've ever worked where tea and coffee is not provided to staff.


Money is wasted not only on management staff but also service users too.


When I worked for private, I found the management a bit more ruthless and would nit pick even for leaving 2 minutes early or going to the loo too often as time is money.


I work for the children's service section, I have found that when it comes to dealing with private care homes they behave more unethically and would cause so many delays as they know that the longer the child stays with them, the more money they get.

pinkshoes

I have worked in both - an engineer then a teacher.

Private had better pay but a lower pension, and much less protection and job security. Generally inflexible with hours.

Public had lower pay, but better pension and better holidays. Teaching is very demanding time-wise, but at least the hours are flexible e.g. I do marking and planning once my son has gone to bed.

It depends what public sector job though, as I have a friend who works for the council who is surprisingly well paid given how little is expected of him in terms of working demands! He seems stressed due to boredom if anything!!

There are pros and cons of both. It depends on your circumstances.

Gavin83

I've also worked in both. Have worked in the private sector previously and the public sector now.

Private sector has better pay, at least for my role, more likelihood of bonuses and the possibility of pay rises. Public sector offers better pensions and holidays. It depends on what's more important to you.

I'd say job security and the demands of the job are equal across both but it obviously depends on the role. My work load and the demands placed on me are far higher than they ever were in the private sector.

lisa110rry

I have worked in both, but mostly private. In fact only worked in the public sector for five years of my 41 years+ working. I hated the public sector working at a Uni in a higher admin grade.

Before that (occasioned by a move from the Midlands to the North) I worked in manufacturing. Enjoyed that a lot. After the unfortunate experience in the public sector I moved in to construction. Love my job. It's been pretty heavy in terms of workload sometimes, but currently is heavy the first half of the month and lighter after that, unless several of my colleagues need review and due diligence at the same time, then it can be a bit fraught.

I only get four weeks plus 8 BHs per year holiday and must take about seven days at Christmas under my contract. I have no pension provided by the company at present (too late for me the work
Place pension). But I have lots of freedom, balanced by lots of responsibility and a difficult conduit to the MD, my line manager. Sometimes I have to take a flying decision. Sometimes I'm wrong. But always I'm making a decision based on my best guess based on the circumstances. I manage quite a large SME.

richdeniro

Worked in both.

Public is how work should be - job security, work/life balance, less anxiety and stress. Plus the feeling that you are contributing in some form to something.

I don't think those are unreasonable things to want in a job in this day and age.

TELLIT01

richdeniro wrote: »

Worked in both.

Public is how work should be - job security, work/life balance, less anxiety and stress. Plus the feeling that you are contributing in some form to something.

Oh boy, things have changed! There is no more job security in the public sector than there is in the private these days. New contracts with 8am to 8pm weekday working, and weekends, in many roles isn't an improvement in the work/life balance. The pressures on staff in some areas is actually very high, with unrealistic targets etc.

I've worked for good and bad employers in both public and private sector but the worst was definitely my final period in the public sector.

Can you imagine a private sector employer moving work to a location in the full knowledge that they didn't have the resource to cope and then say it will all be OK once people are trained and up to speed, a process which would take up to 12 months? When the work move was questioned they reacted by moving even more work to that location!

Incompetent management doesn't even come close to explaining it.

bugslet

Only ever private and only small companies. I know having dealt with them, I could never work for a big company, it's too rigid and too much of being a number.

moneyistooshorttomention

There's swings and roundabouts.

I've worked for both. Latterly - I was a civil servant for many years.

From that....there is more job security in the public sector (BUT its nowhere near as much as it used to be). However - the public sector are absolute experts imo in finding a huge variety of ways to try and make an unnecessary employee feel very very uncomfortable indeed. I've been put through that personally - and made to feel hugely unwelcome - but they simply would not make me redundant (even though the job had ceased to exist basically). Their reasoning was it was too expensive to make me redundant - so they wouldn't. Well there are pros and cons to that - BUT what the public sector does imo if they don't want someone in the job any more is to put HUGE pressure on them to "decide to resign". There is method in their madness too - because a high proportion of their employees will give way to that pressure and resign. So life can be very uncomfortable indeed for those of their employees who literally cannot afford to be pressurised into resigning and have to "hang on in there" and wait for either a realistic type job to appear or to be made redundant. There is a plus side to private sector working of not having to live with that particular "sword of Damocles" hanging over your head...because you just know the private sector would make you redundant the second your job was redundant (ie rather than trying to pressurise and pressurise you into resigning apparently voluntarily).

Speaking from Wales (where I moved to after retirement) and the private sector is a much better bet if you don't want to have to learn a language (ie Welsh) on top of having the necessary qualifications and experience for the jobs you are applying for. The public sector has rules in place (latterday complying to "political correctness" and recent laws) that state you have to speak Welsh - as well as having those necessary qualifications and experience and you just wont be given a public sector job otherwise (unless they simply cant find a suitable Welsh speaker to take on instead of you).