Why are Government/Municipal employees miserable and lazy?

[Pure Peace]

speaking in generalities of course

here in the states, there is this generally held notion/stereotype of the miserable and lazy government employee

specifically, employees of local municipalities and state government offices (not so much the higher levels of federal gov, although many will debate that)

the Dept of Motor Vehicles, County records clerk, your local town's building department, etc....the government employees that the average person deals with

more often than not, in my experience here in the NYC area, it's a negative experience having to deal with these people

when I'm hiring for a position in my company and I see a resume from a "lifer" state government employee, I automatically toss the resume in the trash....it's my gut instinct to avoid them like the plague



what are some reasons, obvious and not, that these government jobs have such miserable employees?


some reasons i came up with

- many are in it for the pension and go through the motions for years just so they could lock themselves in for a payout...going through the motions prevents them from actually giving a crap about the quality of their work

- they know that citizens have no choice but to deal with them, there are no competitors to the DMV and such places

- they are under staffed

 

[Misfit23]

DMV employees are probably sick of dealing with stupid/miserable people all day. I've never had issues with the DMV because I always book appointments online or renew online. Painless process.

 

[Horse Style]

It's because you touch yourself at night.

 

[BEER]

Going to the DMV is seriously the worst fucking experience.

How do these people get the jobs?

 

[Yugo King]

My father worked at a municipal his whole life and damn is he lazy lol.

However it´s the easiest most privliged job ever. Not that he´s wealthy but the job is so easy and pays well compared to the national average.

 

[SuperiorHands]

Because people are choosing a pension and benefits over a lifestyle.

These things are attainable in the private sector but can take more time to get them, and in general will require a higher level of performance.

 

[IIIIIIII]

why? because the government answers to no one, and they thus govern themselves. i won't say specifically what i do for a living, but let me just say that i work with a lot of government workers. the stereotype is real, but of course not every government employee is lazy. but i will say that they are allowed to get away with a lot of shit because a big part of government is avoiding looking bad, and having your employee's back to avoid public criticism.

 

[clutchCAT420]

They deal with stupid idiots all day. What do you expect? This is one of the markets that robots should replace them imo...

 

[Smashandgrab]

Can't speak for the DMV (ours are privatized) but I did spend a decade working in the public service.

From my perspective: Salaries are fixed so it doesn't matter if you meet the minimum performance standards or bust your ass, you're getting paid the same. There are no bonuses, incentives, or even things like Christmas parties in civil service so the only reward for hard work is intrinsic.

Where I worked, management was always looking for a reason to come down on employees. By doing less, you lessened the likelihood of getting in trouble. I knew guys who busted their ass, picked up extra duties, and they were constantly being questioned or reprimanded by the bosses.

The government doesn't care about its employees. You're just a number. Easily replaceable. Two of my colleagues died while active on the job (not at work). Both had many years of service. Not a single member of management attended those funerals. Same for staff organized retirement parties. It's really hard on morale to witness that stuff.

 

[Pure Peace]

Can't speak for the DMV (ours are privatized) but I did spend a decade working in the public service.

From my perspective: Salaries are fixed so it doesn't matter if you meet the minimum performance standards or bust your ass, you're getting paid the same. There are no bonuses, incentives, or even things like Christmas parties in civil service so the only reward for hard work is intrinsic.

Where I worked, management was always looking for a reason to come down on employees. By doing less, you lessened the likelihood of getting in trouble. I knew guys who busted their ass, picked up extra duties, and they were constantly being questioned or reprimanded by the bosses.

The government doesn't care about its employees. You're just a number. Easily replaceable. Two of my colleagues died while active on the job (not at work). Both had many years of service. Not a single member of management attended those funerals. Same for staff organized retirement parties. It's really hard on morale to witness that stuff.

thanks for the insight....really explains a lot and i have heard similar sentiments in the past from others


gave you my 1st ever "like"

 

[Dogstarman]

Can't speak for the DMV (ours are privatized) but I did spend a decade working in the publi service.

From my perspective: Salaries are fixed so it doesn't matter if you meet the minimum performance standards or bust your ass, you're getting paid the same. There are no bonuses, incentives, or even things like Christmas parties in civil service so the only reward for hard work is intrinsic.

Where I worked, management was always looking for a reason to come down on employees. By doing less, you lessened the likelihood of getting in trouble. I knew guys who busted their ass, picked up extra duties, and they were constantly being questioned or reprimanded by the bosses.

The government doesn't care about its employees. You're just a number. Easily replaceable. Two of my colleagues died while active on the job (not at work). Both had many years of service. Not a single member of management attended those funerals. Same for staff organized retirement parties. It's really hard on morale to witness that stuff.

So much this. It's not that the employees don't want to do a good job. The problem is, if you put yourself out there and bust your ass you get a target on your back. If you lay low and do the bare minimum you don't get into trouble.

Also by just throwing their resume you might be throwing someone away that might actually want to do something else than be stuck in their shitty job.

 

[kuromusha]

AAA > DMV.

 

[Swiftie]

I'd go crazy if I had to work at DMV and deal with people that speak no English and are as dumb as a box of rocks.

 

[Scott Parker 27]

I work for the govt and it is a thankless job. The management is for the most part, completely filled with nepotism and will only promote people that kiss their asses, or do their work for them. Im one of the people that used to go way above and beyond my scope of duties. After it not being recognized, and or used against me I dont bother anymore, its not worth it. There are no bonuses or recognition for performing work so that you can get ahead like there were when I worked for a large bank.

Also, dealing with the general public sucks.

 

[My name is]

who's going to stop them

 

[highkicknomore]

Cool bro DMV story:

Employee gave me an application. Grabbed a pen from her counter since she didn't gave me one. Got lectured on not taking her pens. Wait wasn't as long as I expected though - 15 minutes.

 

[BearGrounds]

Poor leadership.

 

[MadSquabbles500]

In NYC, NYC gubment is biggest employer of ghetto people. They were miserable before.

 

[BassAckwards]

i'm a govt employee. i'm not lazy but i'm also not as driven as i used to be. i still go above and beyond what's expected and try to involve myself into everything. unfortunately, the nature of govt work is slow and cumbersome and nobody wants to make decisions. its also very thankless since i'm an analyst and crunch numbers, and very rarely do i see the fruits of my labors

i want to keep climbing up the GS ladder but i'm at a point in my life where my quality of life and children are more important than my career aspiration. i could easily go to DC and be a GS-15 in a few years, even an SES, but i'd never see my kids and would spend half my day playing in bureaucracy and the other half trying to get things done. i'm still young (37) and have 14 years of govt service (counting military) and need + 20 years or so before i am retirement eligible.

 

[MoparOrNoCar]

I'm a state worker but not the cubicle type. We work as hard as any of the private contractors. Main difference is we're happier because we don't have a boss up our ass all day. I have the exact same work ethic as I did in the private sector. I'm just happier because there are less micromanagers here with their asses on the line.

The only bad part is that once you get a shit employee, it's very very hard to get rid of them. Sometimes it's so much work that people just store them away and forget about them. I know an engineer that makes 100k a year doing work that is hardly a step up from a secretary because they can't get rid of him and they can't trust him to engineer anything either.