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?"
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.
> 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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?"