Federal worker household here to testify that every action taken in regard to civil servants has been designed to wreck morale and force people to quit. Every "nice" thing once enjoyed as a means to make up for short pay has been rescinded since Biden left. He had staffed up agencies to distribute the workload; they have now been gutted to increase the drain on those who stayed. The barest work/life balance provisions are gone and office space downsized to leave employees stuck in noisy cubicles to do the work of 3 or 4 with the same quality expectations. And nobody wants to do a poor job; that prospect, alone, hurts. There are many, many more examples.
The result, as you can imagine by simply putting yourself in the place of those who have dedicated their working lives to serving the public, has been grief and frustration. Meanwhile, the continual threat of having our livelihood yanked away at any time for no reason at all creates a grinding stress every single day. We may all have had a job or two like this but were free to walk away and try again. There is no replacement for doing meaningful work on a national scale to better the lives of fellow citizens by working for the federal government. Thank you, Max Stier, for pointing out this ongoing situation. It sucks.
Regrettably, this is a song that has been getting louder since 20 January of last year. With the ascension of this whacko administration of incompetents, the injection of DOGE and Elon Musk into the mix, and the compliance of the current iteration of the Republican Party in Congress, it's little wonder that the remaining federal workforce has become demoralised. We need to work to change the direction; the midterm election can be the start - if we make it so.
Politicians as a class don't like the Civil Service. Between Democrats and "Republicans," that dislike is only a matter of degree. You see, politicians want to force them to do their political bidding, but legally, can't threaten their jobs if they refuse. And politicians definitely want to fire Civil Servants and give their jobs to friends, relatives, and supporters.
There has never been a downside to trashing the Civil Service. People are so used to it that they believe almost any nonsense about feds that political appointees and politicians throw up to obscure their own machinations.
If you want to know the truth about the federal workforce, get hold of a pre-Trump copy of the "Analytical Perspectives" volume of the Federal Budget request. The workforce chapter gives accurate facts about federal pay, education, and comparison with the national worker.
There’s no reason for this to be happening. Federal employees deserve to be treated with dignity, respect and fairness. If a downsizing must occur then those who are on the receiving end should get adequate notice first and fair compensation when they have to depart.
Federal worker household here to testify that every action taken in regard to civil servants has been designed to wreck morale and force people to quit. Every "nice" thing once enjoyed as a means to make up for short pay has been rescinded since Biden left. He had staffed up agencies to distribute the workload; they have now been gutted to increase the drain on those who stayed. The barest work/life balance provisions are gone and office space downsized to leave employees stuck in noisy cubicles to do the work of 3 or 4 with the same quality expectations. And nobody wants to do a poor job; that prospect, alone, hurts. There are many, many more examples.
The result, as you can imagine by simply putting yourself in the place of those who have dedicated their working lives to serving the public, has been grief and frustration. Meanwhile, the continual threat of having our livelihood yanked away at any time for no reason at all creates a grinding stress every single day. We may all have had a job or two like this but were free to walk away and try again. There is no replacement for doing meaningful work on a national scale to better the lives of fellow citizens by working for the federal government. Thank you, Max Stier, for pointing out this ongoing situation. It sucks.
Regrettably, this is a song that has been getting louder since 20 January of last year. With the ascension of this whacko administration of incompetents, the injection of DOGE and Elon Musk into the mix, and the compliance of the current iteration of the Republican Party in Congress, it's little wonder that the remaining federal workforce has become demoralised. We need to work to change the direction; the midterm election can be the start - if we make it so.
"Congress could help — if it wanted to."
Congress won't. They never will.
Politicians as a class don't like the Civil Service. Between Democrats and "Republicans," that dislike is only a matter of degree. You see, politicians want to force them to do their political bidding, but legally, can't threaten their jobs if they refuse. And politicians definitely want to fire Civil Servants and give their jobs to friends, relatives, and supporters.
There has never been a downside to trashing the Civil Service. People are so used to it that they believe almost any nonsense about feds that political appointees and politicians throw up to obscure their own machinations.
If you want to know the truth about the federal workforce, get hold of a pre-Trump copy of the "Analytical Perspectives" volume of the Federal Budget request. The workforce chapter gives accurate facts about federal pay, education, and comparison with the national worker.
There’s no reason for this to be happening. Federal employees deserve to be treated with dignity, respect and fairness. If a downsizing must occur then those who are on the receiving end should get adequate notice first and fair compensation when they have to depart.
Great report on the horrible conditions government workers face. We need non partisanship in Congress & dump Trump & his minions.
The only remedy is to vote out the GOP Congress and the White House/Cabinet.