comment: >
  
  As a federal wildland firefighter I get it we get paid absolute dogshit and spend half the year away from our loved ones and sleep in the dirt. Heart and lung disease is high in the community, not to mention rampant drug and alcohol abuse, suicide rates, 17x higher divorce rates than national average. We’re expendable to them. People are leaving in droves and fires are only getting worse as each year passes.
context: As a government employee I can tell you why.  Previously the deal was that government jobs paid less than private sector jobs but you got better job security and a good pension.
  Both those perks aren't nearly what they used to be.  Government agencies aren't shy about laying people off anymore and pension "reform" has gutted public sector pensions.  So now the deal is work for less money with benefits that aren't really much better than those offered by private sector employers.
  Under this new reality is it any wonder employees bounce. >
  
  Bingo. You nailed it right on the head. They’re stripping away the previously great benefits of a government job and not raising the pay at all, while piling more work onto each position. 
  Shocker they can’t find employees. >
  
  My state dropped retiree health benefits for new hires, among other benefit cuts, and now wonders why they have a 22% vacancy rate. >
  
  Ours still had it, but it’s as expensive as cobra is, so not many can afford it! >
  
  
  “It’s never been easier to start your own business,” [Tulsa Police Officer Mark] Ohnesorge said. “You can go online right now and start an Etsy business and have the capacity to make large sums of money depending on how well you do. With jobs like policing, there’s an income ceiling that you won’t be able to get past no matter how well you do.”
  
  Pure delusion.
  Nope, I just don't think potential police officers are instead making huge bank selling crafts and knitting on Etsy. >
  
  Yeah totally delusional.  However, potential recruits can make comparable money (at least to start) driving a truck or working construction without all the hassle of going to a police academy (harder than most people think --50% of my class washed out) and going through a background investigation (another 30% will washout). >
  
  No, you can't make as much driving a truck.
  Police in big cities make 150k+ with large pensions. That's not what you get as a truck driver. >
  
  In a very few very big cities perhaps.  Deputies in my medium size California county start at 62K.
  Also, California gutted public pensions in 2013.  I got hired as a regular government employee, after seven years as a government contractor, in 2014 so my pension sucks. >
  
  Don't know what to tell you man. I've looked into the pay n medium sized cities in California too. Very high. Never once heard of a cop quitting to go be a truck driver for more money. >
  
  Peace Officer pay varies across the country more than truck driver pay.  In California, outside the Bay Area and LA area, the pay would be comparable.  In places like Oklahoma which the article referenced truck driving often pays more.  
  Deputies leave our county for all sorts of reasons.  Our turnover approaches 100% per year (of course not everyone leaves but some slots got through three or four deputies every year). >
  
  I just looked up pay in Sacramento. Officers are making $120k plus overtime >
  
  Got home and looked it up. Sacramento police recruits start at 44K. This is increased to 77K when they finish their initial training and are officially sworn in. >
  
  Not including overtime
  And not including various other bonuses.
  You've got officers with zero tenure getting 100k plus huge pensions, not even in the bay area or LA >
  
  As I said earlier pensions were severely cut back in 2013. It's also very clear that new officers get 77K.
  Takes at least a couple of years to get off patrol and assigned to units that get bonus pay.
  California truck divers often make 77K. Fast food workers often make over $20/HR. >
  
  This was by design of the republicans.  Start attacking the people who know their jobs and make them leave.  Replace them with junk people who will run it by command of the Republican leader and block anyone else. >
  
  Or just don't replace them. 1. let the agencies bleed people until they are rendered unable to accomplish their regulatory mission. 2. Point out how the agencies are ineffective and wastes of money. 3. Delete the agency.  4. Profit! >
  
  Starve the beast and then drown it in a bathtub.
  That was a legit Republicans political strategy through out the 90s and arguably up to today. >
  
  It was Reagan's budget cutting in the 80s that lead the way for this strategy. >
  
  I worked doing international trade for a state government. I'd give advice and reports to multimillion dollar businesses and write reports for the governor. 
  I made $15 an hour. With multiple degrees. Walmart paid 17 year olds $15 an hour starting pay. 
  It isn't hard to figure out. >
  
  What state was this? >
  
  Missouri. >
  
  
  “The toxic national dialogue that demonizes police officers has made police department staffing significantly more difficult for every major city in America,” Bynum said Nov. 15, adding, “All it takes is a 30-second out-of-context clip on the internet to tarnish their reputation or even ruin their career. “
  
  It's not a "toxic national dialogue" that killed whatever credibility police departments had left.  It's bad behavior, and an utter lack of willingness to confront that bad behavior.  It is a culture of persecution, where cops believe they can only trust each other and protect only each other.  It's a culture where accountability takes a backseat to unjustified loyalty and protecting bad actors.  
  Edit: For every "30-second out-of-context clip on the internet", there are a hundred departments who try to hide the bodycam footage from the public.  Police officers carry guns on behalf of the government - they should be held to a higher standard of transparency and accountability.  That's why I always advocate for licensing of police officers, so bad actors cannot just jump from one scandal to a different job (like US Rep Troy Nehls did).  
  I think what this guy is saying is: "It's a shame that our bad behavior is now caught on video so often."  
  
  But in the same places where police officers are scarce, recruiters are having a hard time finding firefighters, bus drivers and other government workers, The Marshall Project found. Employment numbers show that Americans have been slowly opting out of all local government jobs over the last few years.
  
  The biggest reason for this is the pay gap.  Salaries for government workers lag behind their private-sector counterparts by huge margins.  It gets worse as you go from federal to state to local. >
  
  This is spot on. Also government jobs used to boast about pension and benefits, but the tiers for both have gotten so bad that you could work for 35 years in city govt (nyc) in tier 6 and only be able to retire with 70% of your highest salary. And no hybrid work. At least feds and state jobs are offering competitive work schedules. >
  
  Only 70% of your salary?
  That sounds like a pretty damn good deal to me.  Combine that with Social security, and a small 401k, and you are doing pretty good for yourself. >
  
  After having spent your entire career making like 50% of what you could in the private sector, that's pretty bad. >
  
  If you’re asserting that most people with government jobs could just as easily making double their salary in the public sector, I think you’re grossly overestimating what the private sector is willing to pay most people these days. >
  
  Depends on the job. Lawyers, doctors, and engineers can easily make 50+% more in the private sector. >
  
  They constitute a very small percentage of government employees >
  
  I've been trying to get a government job for months.
  Local government job offerings where I am are terrible.  You either need some crazy highly specialized education or experience like an advanced law degree, or you can be a bus driver.
  Federal government jobs are the only decent ones to look for right now. >
  
  
  or experience like an advanced law degree
  
  Most of the jobs at the agency were I work require law degrees for the simple reason that going to court is a fundamental part of the job.
  Public agencies hiring can be slow.  Most of that is because of all the accountability checks and balances the public has demanded be implemented over the years (not a bad thing BTW). >
  
  It used to be that people went to government jobs for the security of knowing they would be paid and the jobs wouldn't go away. Now with politicians holding their pay hostage to try to destroy Social Security and make war on the government generally, that security is gone. >
  
  
  Government jobs require Urine tests and a huge proportion of Americans smoke/eat cannabis because it's legal in their states.
  The pay tends to not be competitive.
  The notion of government based careers got smacked in the face when government employees in DC had to go to food banks to feed their families due to the shutdown in 2019(?). You can't have this much political turmoil and expect people who want a stable life to work in it - fix the political goonery or this country is lost.  
  
  Advice from a nonexpert. >
  
  Not all government jobs require urinalysis.  Source: me.  While I was pee-tested for my first role that had me driving a large haz-mat vehicle, that was standard regardless of who the employer was.
  I was able to scramble out that role after a decade and now crunch numbers for the same employer.  It can be done, but you have to want it.   Financially, the move wasn't a huge increase, but it got me into a work-from-home mode with no commute.  I also got some much-needed perspective about my previous team as I am treated much more respectfully now.   Those other drivers are still busying themselves shirking and trying to come up with reasons why they can't do something- while I'm typing on a keyboard in sweats.
  Government jobs seem to have a bit of an issue with responsiveness to market pressures, IMHO.  They seem to swing back and forth between a layoff/budget issues/consolidate/internal candidate mode to growth/hiring/spending every 11 years or so.  Catch that wave when you can. >
  
  Can attest. Worked for a few government agencies and never had to pee test once. I did, however, have to pee test working at a winery in an administrative job! >
  
  They do not pay well.
  I went to a private school (expensive) to learn at the #2 school for what was my major in the US.
  Out of college I looked at the government jobs and they paid less than 40k, that does not include rent or transportation costs in Washington or other areas on the East Coast these institutions are based at.
  Immediately went private for double and never looked back. It was my dream, I should have looked at what my dream paid to be honest.
  I was young and naive at 18, told by society to take on on massive loans and make very serious decisions.
  I should have studied something different.
  I’m fine now that I’m in my 40’s, 17 years at the corporate lash and I can finally not worry about money as much.
  You would think they would want to attract the best people, not people looking to become lobbyists but career oriented lifers.
  problem. >
  
  The pay is bad, the GOP can shut your paycheck off by having a tantrum, every nut job treats you like an enemy or their personal servant, you’re set up to fail with too much work and then blamed when things go wrong… who the fuck would want that? >
  
  
  “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.” 
  
  Former President of the United States Ronald Regan >
  
  I worked for the Courts in California.
  In three years they have never matched inflation. Yet they demand high standards  while paying less year after year. >
  
  I work for the local government where I live. Yeah, I have a pension if I stay long enough, but I also got no raise two years ago, and a 4% raise last year. I'm already paid less than in the private sector, and now my pay isn't even keeping up with inflation, why would I want to stay?  We've had such a massive amount of turnover in all departments due to the poor pay raises and it's only going to continue >
  
  Local/State/Federal officials fail to keep pay at competative rates because of fear of raising revenues and face voter anger. >
  
  We can't raise our real estate revenue more than 2% a year (not taxes, but total revenue, so in most years our RE taxes go down) and we had 12 million in extra income last year. We have the most money in our state in our fund balance. There's no excuse. >
  
  
  We have the most money in our state in our fund balance. There's no excuse.
  
  No excuse in your fortunate city, sure, but most cities aren't in anywhere near such a good position. Many older cities are decades behind in keeping up with necessary infrastructure maintenance and improvements. >
  
  Do you know what it takes to get hired by the federal government?  Thousands of jobs and thousands of applicants but the process of  hiring is broken.  That is the issue. >
  
  The hiring process for pretty much any federal job is insane, you’re talking an average of six months from applying to actually starting if you get selected and the starting pay for most federal positions is very low. >
  
  This right here. >
  
  Yep, it seems common for people to apply to federal positions only to sit in the ready pool forever while those positions keep getting listed and re-listed on USAjobs so they take a private sector jobs and eventually get called six months to a year later. >
  
  There should be a contractor to fed pipeline.  Contractors that are satisfactorily doing a fed job should be hired after a certain period of time. >
  
  My state removed new government employees from the pension system and replaced it with a 401k about 10 years ago. Since government jobs pay less than private sector, this is a huge disincentive. Various local governments have also been chipping away at other benefits like health  insurance and paid time off. >
  
  The 401k/403b, became an option right around when I exited public sector and because it was 7% match (if memory serves), was very appealing compared to the pension plan, particularly for anyone who didn't expect to spend their whole career there (because the matching contribution was real, and didn't disappear when you left). >
  
  Legalize marijuana and let people work >
  
  There’s a lot of gov jobs you would DEF NOT want people to under the influence of ANYTHING. Like transit operators, air traffic controllers (FAA especially doesn’t fuck around), working with heavy machinery, etc. >
  
  Why would I want to work for the government? They pay less than the private sector, their technology is shit, the work environment is heavily restricted, and you have to deal with political bullshit. >
  
  Part of the problem for state and local govt is that they require a college degree for many jobs where one really isn't necessary.  Private sector companies like IBM and Bank of America no longer require degrees for most professional positions, and govt should be taking the same approach. >
  
  One of new Governor Josh Shapiro’s first orders was to remove the college degree requirement for state government jobs (Except for ones that really do need one like lawyers, etc.). He was not just acting out of the goodness of his heart, he was being realistic that BA holders had other, better options in the private sector. >
  
  This didn't make the news outside of the Keystone State, but it's significant and encouraging. Thanks for sharing. >
  
  Tbf some states really never paid their regular employees much.  Went by a flea bag hotel in a big town once thinking who’d stay in this crack den?  Turn the corner and there’s 5 state vehicles in the fenced in parking lot .. >
  
  They increased the pay for us (local govt job) but it still doesn't compare to federal and other departments. I'd leave but I've already planted roots where I live and can't find something close enough that pays more.
  Currently working 60 hours a week to stay afloat. I'd put even more on but I have a family to be there for. >
  
  Just looked up the current salary for an IRS Revenue Agent in my zip code (open federal jobs recruitment). Starting pay is $36k year. This is a MCOL area and that’s not a livable wage 
  You can make that much here as a shift lead at Taco Bell. So I can see why they’re having problems recruiting. That’s a ludicrous salary for the job. >
  
  Between the low pay, no remote options (rarely even hybrid), and low benefits... why would I ever go to work for the state? I'd actually be interested in it, but I'd need a partner to help subsidize my life to afford it. >
  
  In civilized nations, unionized civil services jobs get paid very well and do a fantastic job for their citizens. >
  
  I haven’t given up my job. Can’t complain about the pay and benefits. >
  
  I think the truth is, government jobs used to have a competitive advantage with benefits, as a public university employee, I can tell you they no longer have that advantage and they still pay way less. I am currently looking for a private sector job. >
  
  Low level government employee here, we didn’t get a raise nor bonus in 2020 nor 2021 and there was no overtime to do.  For several years prior are yearly raise may be kept up with inflation, often did not.  We got a 4.6% raise this year after 20%+ inflation so we’re still broke.  We’re moving to a new pay scale in seven months that benefits some and not others.  My location is taking a overall pay cut, we’ve been getting a retention incentive since we’re chronically short staffed and it’s being cut whether we can staff or not.  Management managed to hire about a dozen new people because of the “good” news, new hires are taking a huge pay cut and they’re all talking about leaving when the new pay system kicks in.   They won’t get back to what they’re earning today unless they put in 2+ years.  We’re all trying to get out.  It’s just depressing to have to start at the bottom again.  I don’t love my job I have some seniority.