cbus4life wrote: New Zealand is a little different...and, according to those i have talked to, there definitely isn't the sense of "job security" there that federal employees here in the states. Very different, from what i've been told. Obviously, it is comparing apples to oranges, but it is very competitive, and due to the smallish nature of the government, you are certainly held accountable for your work. Like i said earlier, very similar environments for private sector and govt. employees. Not nearly the same disparity.

I am completely agreeing with you in regards to federal employment here. Sorry, didn't mean to make light of the situation. Am just excited about my future job. My bad.

New Zealand is a country with a population just over 4 million. Their government bureaucracy does not even begin to approach our federal government. It will be a lot easier for them to keep an eye on you.

jmog wrote: I'm the first to say the average government job is better than the same public job.

However, to say that they should be getting no more than 3 weeks vacation is asinine.

In most professional jobs (aka degreed) you start with 2 weeks and get 3 weeks after 5 years, 4 weeks after 10 years, then depending on the company that can keep going up to 5 or 6 weeks.

I would beg to differ on these vacation numbers. Most of the biggest of the biggest corporations chop off after 4 weeks. And that almost always depends upon how long an employee stays with one company. It's true in some cases that similar vacations can be negotiated when switching companies..but it is the exception and not the normal scenario.

I read somewhere, that the average college grad can figure on working for 7-10 different companies over his/her career.

The days of good bennies, long vacations, and most certainly pensions, are things of the past.

majorspark wrote:

cbus4life wrote: New Zealand is a little different...and, according to those i have talked to, there definitely isn't the sense of "job security" there that federal employees here in the states. Very different, from what i've been told. Obviously, it is comparing apples to oranges, but it is very competitive, and due to the smallish nature of the government, you are certainly held accountable for your work. Like i said earlier, very similar environments for private sector and govt. employees. Not nearly the same disparity.

I am completely agreeing with you in regards to federal employment here. Sorry, didn't mean to make light of the situation. Am just excited about my future job. My bad.

New Zealand is a country with a population just over 4 million. Their government bureaucracy does not even begin to approach our federal government. It will be a lot easier for them to keep an eye on you.

Exactly what i was trying to get at. Sorry if i didn't make it clear in original post.

majorspark wrote:

dwccrew wrote: Exactly why public sector employees need to start taking the same concessions as private sector employees. They are not exempt. It is a trickle down effect. The private sector pays taxes which pay the public sector's salary and benefits. Private sector gets hit then it's going to effect the public sector.

You sound like the governor of New Jersey.

Hey man, which one? Not Governor McGreevey I hope!

dwccrew wrote:

majorspark wrote:

dwccrew wrote: Exactly why public sector employees need to start taking the same concessions as private sector employees. They are not exempt. It is a trickle down effect. The private sector pays taxes which pay the public sector's salary and benefits. Private sector gets hit then it's going to effect the public sector.

You sound like the governor of New Jersey.

Hey man, which one? Not Governor McGreevey I hope!

LOL. No Chris Christie.

This didn't surprise me at all. My father is a lawyer and has been working in the public sector for the majority of his career. Currently he works for the port authority of NY/NJ. While he may not make as much as some of the top corporate lawyers out there, he does pretty well considering how many benefits, perks and vacation days he gets. He even gets his own car which he can park anywhere in NYC (which is something if you've ever tried to park here.)

I think the reason people in the public sector get more is that unlike in private where a company has only a finite amount of money to doll out to its employees, in theory a govt at any level can raise taxes, rework the budget, or do a number of other things to finance its salaries.

However, in the private sector there really is no limit to how much a company can make. In an economic boom time people in this sector can make considerably more money. However, as we all no, companies really aren't making money, so unlike the public sector, they don't have things like taxes to help pay the salaries.

Websurfinbird wrote: This didn't surprise me at all. My father is a lawyer and has been working in the public sector for the majority of his career. Currently he works for the port authority of NY/NJ. While he may not make as much as some of the top corporate lawyers out there, he does pretty well considering how many benefits, perks and vacation days he gets. He even gets his own car which he can park anywhere in NYC (which is something if you've ever tried to park here.)

I think the reason people in the public sector get more is that unlike in private where a company has only a finite amount of money to doll out to its employees, in theory a govt at any level can raise taxes, rework the budget, or do a number of other things to finance its salaries.

However, in the private sector there really is no limit to how much a company can make. In an economic boom time people in this sector can make considerably more money. However, as we all no, companies really aren't making money, so unlike the public sector, they don't have things like taxes to help pay the salaries.

Seems like the public sector won't much longer either. For example, here in Toledo, Ohio, the city is in a $48 million deficit. They have taxed the people to death and there is an extremely high rate of unemployment here (just over 13%). Now the city employees are facing layoffs and possibly forced concessions.

You can only bleed the people for so long.

I don't know if anyone needed evidence of it, but this shows you part of the story as to why a government program will never be as efficient as if it was handled in the private sector. For those of you who want government health care, here is already an extra 10% added on your cost of health care. Maybe you won't pay for it directly, but you will pay for it. We will all pay the price.