
Why would anyone choose to work for the Federal Government now? - tomasien
http://istommydrunk.svbtle.com/why-would-anyone-work-for-the-government-anymore
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ChikkaChiChi
I asked my wife who happens to work for the state of Minnesota. It's not
federal, but I thought her answer applied:

"I choose to work for the government because I want to be at the forefront of
high-quality, methodologically-sound labor market research and analysis.
Minnesota's Labor Market Information Office is the most well-respected in the
county. I know the work I do absolutely makes a difference - directly and
indirectly - to the lives of Minnesota job seekers and businesses. The
question should be: why wouldn't you want to work for the best?"

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tomasien
Love that!

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a3n
Because it's a major employer where you live.

Most people work wherever they can and have little to no choice in the matter,
given other constraints in their lives and abilities.

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RougeFemme
Granted, the stability gap between private sector and government employment is
smaller, but there is still a gap favoring government employment. Also, those
folks knew they would be called back; it was just a matter of when. Layoffs in
the private sector tend to be permanent - or at least of longer duration. And
those folks knew there was a possibility of back pay - non-existent for laid-
off employees in the private sector.

For most folks, I doubt that the pros/cons of government employment will
change significantly, once the dust settles and they consider the alternatives
- especially in areas where the government is the only or major employer.

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res0nat0r
> The biggest result of the government shutdown for me is this: in a world
> where you might be laid off without pay for 3 weeks at random from your
> government job, why would anyone want to work for the government now?

This whole premise is a bit silly. How about you were only temporarily
furloughed, not fired, for two weeks, and this was the first time it has
happened in 17 years. I'd take those job security odds.

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tomasien
The sequester resulted in tons of furloughs, making this the second or third
time in the last 3 months for many people, with many more fights ahead. I have
a lot of freaked out friends, this is a very real thing.

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res0nat0r
My mom has been one of them. This has been also happening to her, but the
overall risk of losing your government job vs. the private sector is still a
better bet to make.

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tomasien
My argument is that it's shifting, and if this keeps up, it's going to
continue to shift. And I think there's no sign that, unless we change our
attitude toward government, that's its not.

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res0nat0r
This has just really been because a small group of extreme wingnuts, who were
dealt a severe loss in public polling this week and also by the president not
giving in to ransom. It hopefully won't continue to be a recurring theme in
the upcoming years, mainly due to the extreme public backlash.

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tomasien
I would love more than anything for you to cite the claim that they've taken a
huge hit in polling in their districts/states. I looked around, can't find one
- but if you have one I would greatly appreciate. I do not think that they
did, however, and no amount of popularity dip among people outside his state
can stop Ted Cruz from filibustering and raising hell.

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res0nat0r
The GOP overall has the lowest ratings in polling history. Yes babbling idiots
in small districts where these Tea Party folks hail from will be re-elected
due to gerrymandering, but they are a small minority.

Cruz previously didn't filibuster, he didn't have the votes for that. It was a
long "speech" that Reid allowed to happen, but he was never able to continue
on indefinitely.

I'd be worried about the moderates who will get voted out by the public due to
this issue, not the small biased districts who will continue to raise hell,
and get nowhere.

