Five years ago I had no opinion on the efficiency or pay rates of CA government workers vs. private sector.
Then, thanks to introduction from a cousin, my wife and I became part of social circle made up of workers from San Diego and surrounding cities. (State, City, and County workers)
We noticed two categories:
A small minority were college-educated professionals who were UNDERpaid as gov. workers.
The remaining MAJORITY were UNeducated unprofessionals who drifted for years until “striking it rich” by squirming into cushy government jobs. They were way OVERpaid, particularly since such Bottom 20% Performers could hardly even get hired in Private Sector.
Many a weekend evening I shared beers with countless (often drunk) gov workers, who shared their honest assumptions about their gov job:
1) At work they did the Bare Minimum, knowing countless gov reg’s prevented their getting fired (except maybe if they killed a co-worker)…AND they had zero motivation because working hard doesn’t help a gov worker’s career. (Yes, government funding cuts were a risk for job cuts, but that was an unpredictable event so didn’t motivate a better job performance.)
2) To them it was ALL about doing time at the job until they could retire on a fat government pension, often achievable in merely 20 years – and typically paying out remainder-of-life benefits at 60% to 80% of salary! Holy crap; those are my tax dollars paying for THAT.
3) Many worked FOUR days a week MAX but were paid full time.
4) Health benefits were obviously BETTER than in private sector.
5) The second the clock struck their workday closing bell (usually 4:30 PM)…EVERYONE ran for the door. They said by 5 PM their offices were so empty not a mouse was creeping..
6) Those with 10+ years seniority had EIGHT to TWELVE weeks of paid vacation a year. Holy shit, they were ON PAID VACATION one day out of every four work days. No wonder our government moves with the speed of a creeping glacier
Almost every conversation was on how they could facilitate some kind of scam (double jobs, overtime..) to get highest possible salary at retirement, upon which retirement benefits are calculated.
I LAUGH at anyone who claims CA gov workers are as hard working as private sector. I do more work in my typical twelve-hour day than they do in a week.
