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Thank you, cny2cnc. Actually, I am too young to retire, but my wife and I really do not need a whole lot of cash to live on. Like most people in our age bracket, the biggest draw to working for the state is the health insurance. Also, I worked for a state agency before joining the Federal Government and actually enjoyed it. We do "have progressive tendencies" and have researched the state very carefully. We are looking to move to the Triangle, which seems to be a more "progressive" part of the state, or to the area north of Winston-Salem. Also, we are concerned about receiving high-quality healthcare, and North Carolina offers that better than most Southern states. Finally, we have visited numerous times and the lifestyle is considerably less hectic than it is in the National Capital Region. (In fact, several of our neighbors are retiring and moving to North Carolina or Florida.) I appreciate your input.
Like most people in our age bracket, the biggest draw to working for the state is the health insurance.
Hold the phone. Have you researched the NC state employees health plan? It really isn't superior to what my friends in the private sector have. Also, unless you and your wife are both planning to work for the state plan on paying around $500 a month to add your spouse to your state health care plan. Dental and eye care will be extra (and they aren't very good plans).
Hold the phone. Have you researched the NC state employees health plan? It really isn't superior to what my friends in the private sector have. Also, unless you and your wife are both planning to work for the state plan on paying around $500 a month to add your spouse to your state health care plan. Dental and eye care will be extra (and they aren't very good plans).
Thank you for your response, North_Raleigh_Guy. The State is one of the few employers that funds post-retirement health benefits (which we believe we will need). Also (and I just realized I did not raise this issue before) I am looking for a job with good work/life balance. We are moving to improve our quality of life, and I would rather not find myself sequestered in an office 14 hours a day for months on end (which, by the way, is what I experience now).
Hold the phone. Have you researched the NC state employees health plan? It really isn't superior to what my friends in the private sector have. Also, unless you and your wife are both planning to work for the state plan on paying around $500 a month to add your spouse to your state health care plan. Dental and eye care will be extra (and they aren't very good plans).
Ditto. The myth that state employees are raking in the beneifts is LONG obsolete. It was probably true in the 1980s, but almost any private company pays better benes than the state of NC, now. We don't even get free insurance premiums anymore. Now FEDERAL benefits, those are what you want...
It used to be that after 5 years with the state, you would become vested for health insurance once you retired; they changed that a few years ago and now you have to work 20 years before you get that (or 10, where you can pay half the premium).
Do be aware that the ultra-Right-wing NC state legislature is cutting costs everywhere they can, and first on the list was hiring freezes for state jobs. My own department has critical positions that are vacant and we can't rehire for them, piling more work on everyone else, including tasks that were never really part of our job descriptions. So as for the work-life balance, while that used to be a pretty safe bet, we are finding ourselves with more overtime, decidedly more stress, etc. And the governor recently actually referred to state employees as "seat-warmers" so there is no respect for state employees in the current climate. Of course that didn't stop him from giving 11% raises to some of his chums (the rest of us have had exactly 1.2% raise in the past 6 years including this one) but it has not stopped bigwigs in many divisions from hiring cronies (often from out of state--so much for improving NC employment) at 6-figure salaries. Meanwhile critical staff positions sit vacant.
As an accountant, I think you'll find much better benefits with either another state or with a private company.
There are some federal employment opportunities in NC, too. I don't know if they have a need for accountants or not, but it might be worth investigating.
There are some federal employment opportunities in NC, too. I don't know if they have a need for accountants or not, but it might be worth investigating.
Other than the military, the main Federal employer in NC is the EPA, and I know from having worked there (as a contrator) that most non-scientist jobs are contracted out.
I was hired from out of state as a contractor but was told there was an open position in the same agency. I applied for it and was hired within 3 months in a permanent position. I think they did away with a lot of the contracting positions though.
We've been told at work that the state health plan as we know it will be gone by the end of the year. The new GA (General Assembly) is privatizing the state health care system, and premiums will be going up substantially. Kind of running out of reasons to stay here in NC--it's on a very slippery slope to the bottom of the pile of backwards southern states. Every day another crazy law or two is passed in Raleigh that takes this state back to the "good ole days"...
I have seen the NC state health plan go from the best down to becoming very weak,with high deductibles. If you go to the ER for anything after everything is filed you almost always have to pay big money anyway. The insurance is more like a supplement than a real policy. Over the years the state has found ways to constantly decrease what it will cover and at the same time raise rate. At least when I get to 65 the state plan will be my secondary insurance and my medical cost will be almost zero.
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