Working for Federal Government or Private Sector? Pros and Cons (Madison: health insurance, home)

[LCTMadison]

Need some pros/cons on working for the Federal government over the private sector. DH has an opportunity with one of the major government agencies in the area. Having never worked on the "government" side and only in the private sector, we don't know much about what it is like, comparatively speaking.

The one thing he does not like is the 1 year probation under which you can be fired without cause. That seems quite and excessive time limit. Government shutdowns and furloughs make me nervous as well, as we are not currently affected by it.

Any input/insight appreciated!

[CoreLysium]

Generally:

Govt: Lower pay, pension, job security.
Private: Higher pay, no pension, more volatile.

Every situation is different. I have seven more years until I have a pension of about half what I get paid for the rest of my life. Some days it feels worth it, some days it doesn't. I figure after I "retire" it'll seem worth it every day.

[HB2HSV]

I can share my experience that perhap hobby can find helpful. I spent 20 years with Boeing (incl. prior service with McDac & Rockwell) before I joined the government.

PROS-
- Job security. The chance of being laid off is a lot lower as a federal civilian employee. In the private sector, your job security is closely tied to your ability to find a charge number to account every 6 minutes of your time (1/6 of an hour). In the last government shut down, we all received "back pay" so it was a glorified pay time off. Not the way most of us wanted to get time off but that's the system to protect federal civilian employees.

- More annual vacation time. Max. Government annual leave (vacation) is 5 weeks, plus 2 weeks "sick leave". But they do not offer that week between Christman and New Year as "plant shut down" so you can either choose to work or take vacation. In addition, the government is more liberal in granting "green" (comp.) time, in lieu of overtime pay. I'd suspect that at hobby's pay, the additional time ofc is more valuable tha additional OT pay.

- Job mobility. Wider range of assignment possibility with lateral/ upward mobility. For example, he will likely be engaged in helping definning a prime contactor work scope and/or evaluate their performance. The government offers good training, job rotation s that enhances your career diversity. For me, the government has given me far more responsibility than I was able to get at the private sector.

- See a bigger picture. In the private sector, your focus is primarily focused on your company's contract, SOW, & how to expand/ increase your company's revenue. In the government, you begin to see a bigger picture and begin to think what makes sense & what is best for the program, the government, & the tax payers.

CONS-
- Lower pay/ lower salary increases potential. It is very likely that they will match hobby's current pay level but the future increases becomes difficult. There are "steps" with a salary "grade" that increas in "steps" is automatic, e.g., every year for the lower steps to once every 5-6 years at higher steps. If you top out at a salary grade, then you can either be promoted with merit at lower grades, or you need to compete at higher grades. In addition, to step increases, the government offers a "cost of living" pay increases to offset inflation. However, recently it has been low to nonexistence as this is dictated by the Administration. My experience has been the government pay increases is lower than Boeing's pay increases.

- Bureaucracy. Oh the bureaucracy! It can be a fustration for soneone like hobby who is used to get things done. The government is not known to work fast or efficiently. I've known or heard many who came from the private sector and eventually return to, incl. Boeing, after a fustrating few years.

- Lower benefits than what Boeing offers. This maybe a surprise to many, but my medical & TSP (gov't equivalent of 401K) & retirement are not as good as what Boeing offers.

- Corporate culture. Yes, just as depicted in Dilbert, each government agencies have its own unique culture. For example, Army is still pretty much a command-driven culture whereas NASA encourages employees to speak up & ask questions.

More to discuss. Others should chime in.

Much of federal employee benefits can be found at OPM.gov

[NoleFanHSV]

Kinda confused. In this town, there are really three options: Working directly for the government, working for a private company who's business is mostly government contracts, and working for a private sector company who's business is mostly is non-government/private sector related.

All three have seperate pros and cons. My own choice would be to work directly for the government or for a private company that isn't government contract dependent. Working for a private sector company that deals mostly in government contracts IMHO has too much instability. Some really large companies have a mix of both, but its going to be dependent on which side of that company one works for.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by NoleFanHSV

Kinda confused. In this town, there are really three options: Working directly for the government, working for a private company who's business is mostly government contracts, and working for a private sector company who's business is mostly is non-government/private sector related.

All three have seperate pros and cons. My own choice would be to work directly for the government or for a private company that isn't government contract dependent. Working for a private sector company that deals mostly in government contracts IMHO has too much instability. Some really large companies have a mix of both, but its going to be dependent on which side of that company one works for.

Well... given the choice, I would rather be independently wealthy.

But since that is not the case, I go where my skills are wanted. It's all about the supply & demand of the job market.

Both the government & the government-contract firm jobs have 'protections' on employment rights. I know private non-government contract firms can abuse the employment rights and the job is not any more secure or stable.

[BMW Dave]

Currently trying to get Aubrey on with the DoD as we speak.

My dad and best clients have been employed by the DoD/MDA. The job security is what most of them point to as the reason.

My Dad has great benefits and has a job until he is ready to retire, so stability and security, USA all the way!

[FatTails]

My experience....

Pay: Depends who you work for. Work for AMRDEC or another agency with pay banding and you are golden. A very large chunk of the engineers are capped out GS-15/10, which means they make 155k (w/annual bonus). If you work on GS scale it isn't quite so cozy. Pay banding raises seem to be averaging 3-4% per year.

Benefits: 401k match is 5%. Pension is alright. State employees have it better but also pay a lot more into it. Health insurance is ok. I'm actually on PEEHIP through my wife which is better than anything FEHB offers. Time off is great. 4 hours per pay period of sick with no cap. Vacation is 4 hours for the first three years, then 6 hours until you hit 15 years, then 8 hours.

Stress: I'm currently on a project where we are down selecting between two competing contractors for a new weapon system. I couldn't care less who wins. Certainly doesn't keep me up at night. I bet the engineers who work for these companies are pretty stressed right now and probably putting way more than the 40 hours per week I'm putting in.

Also, the probation thing isn't bad. In the private sector you are usually "on probation" indefinitely. In the government it just means it gets hard to fire you after a year and almost impossible after three years. Then you are tenured and set for life.

[Madmom2000]

Originally Posted by LCTMadison

The one thing he does not like is the 1 year probation under which you can be fired without cause. That seems quite and excessive time limit. Government shutdowns and furloughs make me nervous as well, as we are not currently affected by it.

Any input/insight appreciated!

Alabama is a right to work state. Employers don't have to show cause to fire you. But Nerdtron is right. If you have worked for the government for more than three years and have a beating heart you're employed.

[Yosh01]

Originally Posted by CoreLysium

Generally:

Govt: Lower pay, pension, job security.
Private: Higher pay, no pension, more volatile.

From a January 2012 CBO report: "Overall, the federal government paid 16 percent more in total compensation than it would have if average compensation had been comparable with that in the private sector, after accounting for certain observable characteristics of workers."

According to the CBO study, the only public worker group paid less than their private sector counterparts are professionals with graduate degrees.

See: http://www.cbo.gov/publication/42921

[pkbab5]

My husband is on the government side and I am on the contractor side. I would jump the fence to the government side in a hot minute if I had the chance. My husband has worked for the same agency (changing positions several times within the agency so getting lots of experience doing different things) but with the same agency for almost 15 years. He has told me as long as he shows up in the morning, puts in his time, and doesn't smoke pot, he pretty much cannot be fired. I, on the other hand, have been forced to swap badges at least 6 times in the last 10 years because of contracts ending or being renewed to a different company etc.

His health insurance is better than mine. Granted I work for a very small company at the moment and some of the larger places have very nice health insurance.

But most of all, his vacation/sick time is very much better than mine. He gets over 10 hours of vacation/sick time every 2 weeks, plus all federal holidays, plus getting to leave 59 minutes early the day before every holiday (sometimes more, today they got 2 hours), plus 3 hours a week PAID time they are allowed to spend working out in their onsite gym. I get 5 hours a week every two weeks, period. And that's with negotiating for extra when I hired in, and then again in exchange for a raise two years later. Which basically means whenever the kids are sick or school is closed or extended family is in town for the holidays, he gets to stay home with them while I have to go to work.