Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 20 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 19 years, 3 months ago by
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Do non-government employees (or people in general) really believe that government employees are lazy, dumb and/or rude, or is this just a media stereotype that gets perpetuated? If people believe this, why?
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Name : Janet E., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Religion : Unity School of Christianity, Age : 50, City : Atlanta, State : GA, Country : United States, Occupation : Trainer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I was a civil service (government) employee for 15 years, six of those as a union steward. I can tell you that many government employees work long hours, sacrifice family time and work in far less than glamorous conditions to do an outstanding job. Unfortunately, there are a number of employees who call in sick every Monday and Friday, do substandard (or worse) work, file grievances at the smallest inconvenience and are verbally abusive to everyone they come in contact with. Those knotheads are the reason the stereotype you mention is alive and well. They are also the reason so much government work is now being contracted out.
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Name : Alma31457, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Methodist, Age : 48, City : Kempner, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : education, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,I think many people feel this way, because (particulary here in mostly-white Minnesota) the people they see working in the government offices are more diverse (minority or disabled) than their co-workers at non-governmental jobs. They carry over their bias against these people and assume they are less-desirable employees and would not have a job if the government didn’t give them this handout.
Concerning the idea that they are rude, in my experience, government employees are allowed to be much ruder to citizens/customers than workers in the private sector who would lose their job over bad behavior. An effect of unions?
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Name : Thora, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 33, City : St. Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : database programmer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I’m a school teacher and my father was a postal worker. There is a grain of truth to the stereotypes. Most civil service jobs require a test. Jobs like teachers require a college degree and license. If you get the highest score, you get the job. If person who is antisocial gets a high score on a civil service exam, he/she can get a job in customer service. Government jobs also offer strong job security. You cannot be fired easily. This is supposed to ensure you got the job because you’re qualified, not because of your uncle’s influence. Strong job security makes sure you can do your job without being influenced by others. Does this system protect boneheads who are lazy and incompetent? Yes. I’ve met a couple of bad teachers who could not be fired because of tenure. All the principal could do was assign something outside the classroom. My father also has similar stories.
Most government workers strive to do a good job, but you know the saying about one bad apple.
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Name : Steve27637, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : African Methodist Episcopalian, Age : 28, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : teacher, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,My sister is an undersecretary to the Department of something in DC. I have heard her stories. It isn’t that government employees are lazy, it’s just that whole departments have no competition and no profit motive, and therefore no reason to be efficient. Huge amounts of energy are spent in turf wars between departments within the same agency or between agencies to get the Congressional budget lottery. I don’t think it is the average employee’s fault; afterall, if you can gravy train it, why not. It is a management system problem.
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Name : Steve27636, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 45, City : Houston, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Corporate Cubicle Person no Longer on Sabbatical, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper class,Having spent three years working in a county hospital and three years working for municipal government, I can’t say I believe government employees are lazy, dumb or rude. Although working in these environments put me in the position of dealing with brutal politics on the part of clerical staff (upper management was pretty clean), people could be dedicated, helpful to the public and perhaps disappointed that they did not go on to higher levels of education.
I saw a lot of sadness in my fellow government employees. A lot of boredom. A lot of people who made career choices based on security rather than interest or talent. However, in general, there are three areas that may influence the way government employees are perceived: 1) I have heard that the less an organization depends on customers, the more politics you will find. 2) Government employees do their work on budgets that are miniscule compared to what you’d find in the private sector. 3) Government employees make an average of half the salary they would in the private sector. Maybe the best and brightest move on?
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Name : Mary21973, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 40, City : Minneapolis, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : administrative, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Prior to coming back to journalism, I worked in management in a government agency and found most of those stereotypes to contain kernels of truth. Government work generally pays less than its private-sector counterparts. This doesn’t necessarily make employees lazy, but instead attracts people not motivated by money. This leaves personal satisfaction or love of society their sole motivation. After a short time of working for the public as ‘servants,’ they lose that motivation. The public is rude, mean and generally uninformed about the role of government. Once the person has no motivation to ‘serve’ the ungrateful public, and they’re safe in their job by seniority, they fit those stereotypes.
The flip side to this phenomenon is that, in my opinion, it’s the lazy, dumb and/or rude public that makes these people respond in that manner. Imagine a time when you went to a government agency. You were probably not in a good mood anyway, depending on the agency, and you wanted out as quickly as possible. You demanded answers to questions such as ‘Why do I have to have a photo ID with that?’ or ‘Why do I have to fill out this form?’ or ‘Why can’t you process that in less than 24 hours?’ While this was the first time you had EVER acted in this manner, it was probably the 100th time the employee had dealt with a similar person.
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Name : Brian23026, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 26, City : Peru, State : IN, Country : United States, Occupation : journalism, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,There are quite a few reasons why government employees are viewed negatively. Government jobs were often patronage positions, in the bad old days, and the civil service reforms put in place a lot of mechanisms which sharply defined roles, responsibilities, and working conditions. I think this happened before union work rules and the like became common, but regardless of that most white collar workers don’t have anything like the protections that apply in the civil service. My wife, for example, gets ‘longevity pay’ which sounds like a gimme; of course, she doesn’t get the opportunities for advancement that might open up in private industry. She cannot get merit raises, her pay is determined by her grade. People often complain that poor civil service workers don’t get fired, but the flip side of that is that good ones don’t often get rewarded. Civil servants are bound by a lot of rules which, in point of fact, derive from the laws of their employing entities; but this need to abide by the rules is perceived by the public as personal inflexibility. For example, if I need some supplies to meet a customer need I can (in a pinch) buy them at a store and put in for reimbursement; my wife has to fill out a form and send it off to somewhere for competitive bidding, and if she’s lucky she’ll get the goods in her lifetime. To do otherwise would be to invite termination and possibly prosecution.
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Name : JerryS, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 52, City : New Britain, State : CT, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Being an employee of the government, I can say there are some very dedicated workers in the government, and some lazy ones who are waiting for their pension. Becaue there is a less-strict work environment and the focus isn’t on production of a good as private industry might have it, there is need of greater personal integrity. Supervisors are less likely to clamp down on their unproductive workers. On the whole, the environment is great because a person can grow in the area of his or her interest, be it science, accounting or business skills. In an environment requiring personal integrity, some people thrive, while others take advantage of the system.
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Name : Ronald-V29461, Gender : M, City : Edmonton, Alberta, State : NA, Country : Canada,As a British government employee, I’d like to know the answer to this one, as we have the same stereotype here, too. There was a time when the British Civil Service was overstaffed, but that’s not the case anymore. Maybe the once (partly) accurate view of bowler-hatted gentlemen spending their days drinking endless cups of tea has just stuck. The British Civil Service has a very high proportion of Oxbridge graduates, so we’re certainly not stupid as a bunch. However, having worked in a job that had contact with the public, I can see how we can get the reputation for being rude. The public come in already hating us before they’ve even met us, and of course we react accordingly – we’re only human. Everyone also seems to think that the law should be written to suit their particular circumstance, never mind how it might affect other people. They never stop to think that when they say they can name 10 people who lose out from one particular policy, we can name several thousand who benefit from it.
I’ve had friends who say they’re appalled by the ‘easy time’ I have at work, but as soon as I suggest they come and join me, they say, ‘low pay and poor conditions – no thanks!’ Just about says it all, doesn’t it?
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Name : Gellybean21623, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 35, City : London, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : Government employee, Education level : 2 Years of College,I have yet to visit the DMV, post office, etc. without dealing with rude, obnoxious, unpleasant and unhelpful staff. Maybe those kinds of jobs are unpleasant to do, or maybe there are little educational requirements and the government kind of gets the worst of society. I’ve been in other countries and government employees are very helpful and friendly, so it seems to be a US thing.
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Name : Jay20856, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I am a former state employee and can say that there are people working in government who fall into the listed stereotype, but there are quite a few who don’t. I found out that government work is not for those who are organized and motivated because all government employees get the same pay raises at the same time. Tenure, not hard work, is the primary factor. The public does not want to see government employees making decent wages. What they do not realize is that when you cut the pay, you get what you pay for. I would want top people with the desire and ability to make something happen answering the phone if I called a government office. What happens now is that the phone just rings and rings…
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Name : N.H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, City : Jacksonville, State : FL, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College,I don’t think government employees are any more lazy, rude or incompetent as a group than other employees. I think what happens is that when one encounters a bad government employee, this is taken as evidence of the character of all government employees. But when one encounters a rude or inefficient person employed by private industry, we attribute that person’s behavior only to that particular office or company or, at the most, that industry. All of private industry does not suffer for the actions of a few. I do believe there are some characteristics inherent in large organizations or bureaucracies that can make it difficult to root out bad apples, but this is true of large private industries as well.
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Name : Ramonna30219, Gender : F, City : Minneapolis, State : MN, Country : United States,As an employee of a state academic institution related to health care, I find that there is a culture inside our facility that sees ourselves a certain way – that of a culture of service. None of us is a perfect little worker bee, but we are deep down motivated by this feeling. We work very hard to fulfill a need in society that is not always supported by the wealthier segments of that society. The people we help often tell us they are extremely grateful for the work we do on their behalf. The only people who complain about us are people who have no contact with us and only see us in the abstract, based on their political and ideological opinions, such as people who simply believe that ‘all state employees are lazy and incompetent or unhelpful’ and that our existence is a waste of their taxes, until the day comes when they get in a car accident and suddenly we’re the best friends they ever had.
The sad thing is that after a while, service people feel underappreciated and move on to other professions that might pay more or are less thankless, but aren’t in service to anyone. I think it’s sad that our society makes artificial heirarchies in which it is considered more ‘successful’ to be a stockbroker than it is to be a nurse. Nursing is a great job; nurses are in short supply and desperately needed, and the job pays pretty darn well compared to most other jobs requiring the same amount of education. But people aren’t motivated to become nurses because they are brainwashed to think they should be learning all about computers instead. Iin the place I work it’s actually very hard to get a position because you’re somebody’s nephew, so maybe it’s different here than in other places.
The stereotype that is true is the one about bureaucracy. You would have nightmares if only you knew how much paperwork it takes to make the smallest thing happen here, not to mention how long it takes that paper to move. But that’s the only way to really prevent things like nepotism.
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Name : Jim, Gender : M, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 36, City : Seattle, State : WA, Country : United States, Occupation : poet, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,
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