Public Sector vs Private Sector
- Thread starter zenie
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Looby
Well-Known Member
citydreams said:
Magic Sams sister temped at the local council for a bit and there was a woman there who used to come in every morning, put her cardi over her chair and then wander off. No-one seemed to say anything but she didn't seem to actually do a job.
I agree with the lack of career path. I have been in my job for 2 years in September, I have been refused a transfer because of 'business need' and no-one gets off the call centre unless they have been there 2 years. There are no promotion opportunities because there are so many surplus staff and when a job does come up there are usually about 60 other people applying. I haven't got the required competences to apply for promotion but I am not given the opportunity to get them as we are swamped with calls and never get time off the phone.
I guess as I work in a contact centre it's a completely different way of working to the traditional paper shuffling civil servants but that's how it going to be for everyone soon.
They are closing down as many offices as possible and opening these huge processing offices which will be like a factory production line.
Each robot will be responsible for a particular (small) task and they will do that all day. They have hourly targets which are recorded on a whiteboard so are monitored constantly.
The private sector is looking more and more tempting.
citydreams
on the road again
Hollis said:I've checked out the tfl website.. one big quango graveytrain.
that's not fair, we abide by European competion laws, putting all contracts out to tender on OJEU.
EastEnder said:Be wary of sweeping generalisations.....
Some people in the public sector have very high salaries, some people in the private sector have derisory salaries, some private companies have even more bureaucracy than public sector organisations, some private companies are actually nice places to work at that look after their staff, etc, etc, etc.
But on the whole the preconceptions are true:
Public sector - better job security, shorter hours, longer holidays, more benefits, less cut throat, etc.
Private sector - little or no job security, often stupidly long hours, crap holidays, sometimes little or no benefits, can be very insecure, can earn a lot more money.
To summarise it in a grossly sweeping generalisation (): If you want to work really hard to earn loads of money and fight your way to the top, it's private sector all the way. If you don't mind being an unexciting cog in a very large organisation, with a rigid, prescribed career path but with more security and time to actually live outside of work, then the public sector may appeal more.
Excellent post.
I'm in the Public Sector. Strictly speaking a semi-autonomous agency devolved from the Civil Service per se, but with CS-analagous terms and conditions. I have a good deal here, especially concerning holiday allowances and pensions, and after 17 years I'm not too badly paid (although many 'professionals' in the private sector would consider my wages very so-so, and for many years they were CRAP, so a decent pension is something of a recompense for that). My fortunate position (which I'd never deny) I put down to my being well established, and I came in before a lot of 'Reserved Rights' were downgraded (in 1996) and before the more recent widepread trend to take on people on temp contracts with no security and very few associated perks.
Advantages : Low stress, decent hours, excellent leave (after 15 years I was granted extra Long Service leave allowance), proper pension.
Disdvantages : Trappedness -- If I want to leave altogether (which I don't particularly), I'll take a cut in salary and lose all the above. And staying here leaves me few to no prospects of any real money, because I'm not management minded or suited.
I'm thinking about transferring within the organisation to do something different and more interesting, I'd drop a grade for this if my leave and pension were retained (which they probably would be as I'm reserved rights). Plan still in early stages thoiugh, hope to have made progress towards a change before the end of the year.
And before anyone starts sniping, no I don't work all that hard at all, except when with the public service side when I DO -- the very reason why I'd like a change is to feel more fulfilled and to work harder. Doing the same thing for too long (over a decade in my case) makes it easy to coast and take the piss a bit at times.
Biddlybee
making knots with sticks
I did, but forgot by the time I got to page 2zenie said:Private
Did you not read my OP?? I have only ever worked in Private
Maybe worth temping somewhere in the public sector, there are a lot of agencies that deal just with this sector/charities/adcademia, get a feel for what it's like, then decide whether you'd like it, whether it's you or not?
citydreams
on the road again
Hollis said:Not tfl. Closed shop. Jobs for the boyz.
TfL are always looking for bean counters. I'll put in a good word for you if you like.
I'm stating the obvious a bit, but there you go...
I think no matter how mundane your task is, if you feel like the job is worthwhile in the grand scheme of things - even if it's only teeny weeny - it makes for a much happier human being. I noticed immediately how nice, friendly and apparently happy everyone seemed, in the charity that I worked for. Admittedly morale is different within the NHS but I still think one's soul is more likely to stay in tact than if working for some greedy money-making private company/sector.
It's probably classified as selfish altruism, but there you go. What altruism is completely selfless!
For me this is most important on a personal level. I've worked in education, a hospital, a charity and also private sector jobs (which I hope never to do again) and whilst there's a whole load of red tape and bureaucracy - especially within the NHS setting - and dodgy stuff going on, in much the same way as within private companies, ultimately the aim is to do something good and yes, improve people's lives in some way. For me this is the driving force. Thus the smaller salary, ineffecient administration, poor working-conditions etc. are made up for by the fact that I'm not selling my soul to some big f*ck corporation, which does nothing for the good of human-kind in any way. In fact, mostly causing more damage than it does good.
I think no matter how mundane your task is, if you feel like the job is worthwhile in the grand scheme of things - even if it's only teeny weeny - it makes for a much happier human being. I noticed immediately how nice, friendly and apparently happy everyone seemed, in the charity that I worked for. Admittedly morale is different within the NHS but I still think one's soul is more likely to stay in tact than if working for some greedy money-making private company/sector.
It's probably classified as selfish altruism, but there you go. What altruism is completely selfless!
Hollis said:Big holidays, big pay. Great terms I conditions.
"Dave, I fancy leaving at 3 pm today"
"No problems mate, take tomorrow morning off aswell"
That's a Hollis-Special caricature, but responding to the part of it that has some connection with reality, why get so fucking angry? It makes you look bitter, resentlful, smallminded and jealous.
Why not say : good luck to em, EVERYONE shouild have decent leave allowances, pension allowances, etc.?
If you don't get em in the private sector (which you should), fight for them. That's what unions are for.
Hollis said:
Vixen can reply for herself, but that not my position at all ...
han said:
Fully deserved. Well OK, probably they'd struggle by
on £30K or £35K, but have you any idea what hours they work? If Oxpecker was still around he'd give you chapter and verse. Those 40 days are not taken in huge blocks of three to five days at time, but as singles or doubles, after a long period of working ....
Hollis said:Will Walworth: 60+ days annual leave.
Can you stop lying and trolling (ernesto-style if not content) please?
You're coming over as a right wing Daily Telegraphite resentful whiner, which I'm sure you don't REALLY want.
I'm fucking off from this thread until you stop disrupting it with your bitterness and nastiness.
EastEnder
Brixton Barnacle
Sort of....zenie said:
The private sector is driven by market forces - internet booms, all the techys are in huge demand, get paid shed loads; internet stagnates, techys out of work, salaries slashed.
How well you get on in the public sector often has more to do with how successful the unions are. If you couched it in market forces terms, some might argue that intensive care nurses are more in demand than train drivers, but the drivers have a more aggressive union, so end up getting more money.
In a truly socialist environment, nurses & train drivers would each be awarded fair salaries, without the need for all the union action.
EastEnder said:To summarise it in a grossly sweeping generalisation (
sweeping, but fairly accurate imo...
ive spent 10 years working in the private sector and have now moved across to public to contract for a while, partly out of curiosity...
my experiences are only of ONE local authority but my observations are..
a staggering lack of motivation and ambition among the rank and file
an unwillingness to challenge, develop and improve working practices i find deeply frustrating (its public money people, lets try and free up more to spend on the public)
awful man management, no personal development, no encouragment or criticism
a culture of serve the servants first, the public second
on the plus side, i can come in when i want, go home when i want and i am treated like a human being.
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