Government employee thread! (Being a government employee is sweet) (2 Viewers)

[Capella]

I'm sure in this country; there's payments going out that constitute fraud; both at the SS level and even on the Federal employee timesheet level. How many instances of it would be needed to be found to justify the uncertainty and stress Federal employees are currently feeling?

OIGs for VA and SSA have found billions in fraud waste and abuse over the last decade. There obviously is plenty. Just very likely not in this case listed above.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

You could make an argument that this is a coincidence of sorts. I don't want to discuss it politically here, but the reputation of the parties is certainly small govt conservatism vs big government spending - so of course if you're just tracking waste, you'd look at all the stuff you think is wasteful first, which would likely be anything that extends beyond the "small govt" ideology.

I think it would be difficult to untangle the two because, for example, one persons idea of waste could be "not achieving the agency's mission in the most efficient possible manner" while another could be "anything in support of a mission that in itself is wasteful".

The FFA probably isn't the place for debating what is or isn't a wasteful mission, but I don't think it's remotely ground breaking, surprising, or sinister that things might line up that way quickly in execution of a huge waste reduction initiative.

Thank you.

I agree with you this doesn't seem groundbreaking it would line up this way.

And please, let's drop it there and keep this to the topic of non partisan information and helping people affected by this navigate. The "what is wasteful spending" or "look at how dumb these people are" stuff is political forum talk.

Please let's keep this thread alive if possible and avoid taking it there.

I'm glad you popped in here because I want to ask a couple tough questions and you are the guy to set the narrative or keep us on track

-#1 I've seen it with people from ALL walks of life on the TV, ALL Networks...with these potential mass layoffs, many of us have family members that we do not associate with a particular political party. They are just regular people like the rest of us. And some of these people are being shown the door or walked out or asked to voluntarily resign.

How do you accept that innocent folks are having their entire lives turned upside down?
It feels very unsettling, my brother has worked for Veterans Affairs for years and I'm afraid that time is coming to an end. He is in IT-CyberSecurity so I have no doubt he will land on his feet but that choice should not have been forced on him IMHO. He sacrifices a lot of potential paycheck by working as a government employee and part of that his dedication to other Veterans that have put their lives on the line so we can all enjoy the freedoms of this country. My brother was a Navy Corpsman

#2 Is it natural to support some of these cuts in government while at the same time also feeling disturbed by some of the folks that are being forced out of their careers?

I believe that is as far as I can really take it. I just want others out there going thru this either themselves or family members, you're not alone.
I am concerned many of these folks are likely living paycheck to paycheck, people with families/children could lose their homes as this unfolds.

Thanks JB

Hi @Ministry of Pain

I'm sorry but I don't understand the questions. Are they for me?

I see this question: "How do you accept that innocent folks are having their entire lives turned upside down?" but I don't understand. Who said I'm accepting of anything? Of course, it's traumatic when people lose their jobs or are uncertain about their job.

And, Is it natural to support some of these cuts in government while at the same time also feeling disturbed by some of the folks that are being forced out of their careers?", I'd say of course. I think most everyone is for eliminating waste but also feel concern or compassion for people losing jobs.

When i wrote the question, I just didn't want to push the thread too far into politics, more so than you personally

 

[Joe Bryant]

You could make an argument that this is a coincidence of sorts. I don't want to discuss it politically here, but the reputation of the parties is certainly small govt conservatism vs big government spending - so of course if you're just tracking waste, you'd look at all the stuff you think is wasteful first, which would likely be anything that extends beyond the "small govt" ideology.

I think it would be difficult to untangle the two because, for example, one persons idea of waste could be "not achieving the agency's mission in the most efficient possible manner" while another could be "anything in support of a mission that in itself is wasteful".

The FFA probably isn't the place for debating what is or isn't a wasteful mission, but I don't think it's remotely ground breaking, surprising, or sinister that things might line up that way quickly in execution of a huge waste reduction initiative.

Thank you.

I agree with you this doesn't seem groundbreaking it would line up this way.

And please, let's drop it there and keep this to the topic of non partisan information and helping people affected by this navigate. The "what is wasteful spending" or "look at how dumb these people are" stuff is political forum talk.

Please let's keep this thread alive if possible and avoid taking it there.

I'm glad you popped in here because I want to ask a couple tough questions and you are the guy to set the narrative or keep us on track

-#1 I've seen it with people from ALL walks of life on the TV, ALL Networks...with these potential mass layoffs, many of us have family members that we do not associate with a particular political party. They are just regular people like the rest of us. And some of these people are being shown the door or walked out or asked to voluntarily resign.

How do you accept that innocent folks are having their entire lives turned upside down?
It feels very unsettling, my brother has worked for Veterans Affairs for years and I'm afraid that time is coming to an end. He is in IT-CyberSecurity so I have no doubt he will land on his feet but that choice should not have been forced on him IMHO. He sacrifices a lot of potential paycheck by working as a government employee and part of that his dedication to other Veterans that have put their lives on the line so we can all enjoy the freedoms of this country. My brother was a Navy Corpsman

#2 Is it natural to support some of these cuts in government while at the same time also feeling disturbed by some of the folks that are being forced out of their careers?

I believe that is as far as I can really take it. I just want others out there going thru this either themselves or family members, you're not alone.
I am concerned many of these folks are likely living paycheck to paycheck, people with families/children could lose their homes as this unfolds.

Thanks JB

Hi @Ministry of Pain

I'm sorry but I don't understand the questions. Are they for me?

I see this question: "How do you accept that innocent folks are having their entire lives turned upside down?" but I don't understand. Who said I'm accepting of anything? Of course, it's traumatic when people lose their jobs or are uncertain about their job.

And, Is it natural to support some of these cuts in government while at the same time also feeling disturbed by some of the folks that are being forced out of their careers?", I'd say of course. I think most everyone is for eliminating waste but also feel concern or compassion for people losing jobs.

When i wrote the question, I just didn't want to push the thread too far into politics, more so than you personally

Thanks. What I think personally doesn't matter much.

Had I written anything here that would make you think I "accept that innocent folks are having their entire lives turned upside down?"

As I said, of course, it's traumatic when people lose their jobs or are uncertain about their job.

And, for "Is it natural to support some of these cuts in government while at the same time also feeling disturbed by some of the folks that are being forced out of their careers?", I'd say of course. I think most everyone is for eliminating waste but also feel concern or compassion for people losing jobs.

 

[Jayrod]

I'm sure in this country; there's payments going out that constitute fraud; both at the SS level and even on the Federal employee timesheet level. How many instances of it would be needed to be found to justify the uncertainty and stress Federal employees are currently feeling?

Yes worrying about your job and having to justify it isn't fun.

But welcome to the real world.

 

[FarFromHome]

The government pay system is not really much different than private pay systems I've worked

You fill out your timesheet and sign it. Then my manager approves it.

Then the next level usually managers manager assistant checks the time codes and signs off.

I think of the level of that happening is equal in private and public sector.

I am actively working to get the last person on our team to exempt so no one in our group continues to waste time submitting timesheets.

You would have been my hero if you got me exempt. One agency I worked at I never saw a time sheet in 10 years. The other I had to manually input my time and codes myself. Wasn't hard just always seemed silly to me.

 

[MAC_32]

The government pay system is not really much different than private pay systems I've worked

You fill out your timesheet and sign it. Then my manager approves it.

Then the next level usually managers manager assistant checks the time codes and signs off.

I think of the level of that happening is equal in private and public sector.

I am actively working to get the last person on our team to exempt so no one in our group continues to waste time submitting timesheets.

Interesting. This might be an agency by agency thing

While I am non-profit, I am not gov't. I loathe what is going on now, and how, but I am very curious what this looks like once the dust settles for a multitude of reasons. More labor monitoring timecards isn't a desirable outcome though.

 

[MAC_32]

The government pay system is not really much different than private pay systems I've worked

You fill out your timesheet and sign it. Then my manager approves it.

Then the next level usually managers manager assistant checks the time codes and signs off.

I think of the level of that happening is equal in private and public sector.

I am actively working to get the last person on our team to exempt so no one in our group continues to waste time submitting timesheets.

You would have been my hero if you got me exempt. One agency I worked at I never saw a time sheet in 10 years. The other I had to manually input my time and codes myself. Wasn't hard just always seemed silly to me.

It isn't the single biggest waste of time in the office place, but it may be the single most useless task in the office place.

 

[the moops]

I'm sure in this country; there's payments going out that constitute fraud; both at the SS level and even on the Federal employee timesheet level. How many instances of it would be needed to be found to justify the uncertainty and stress Federal employees are currently feeling?

Yes worrying about your job and having to justify it isn't fun.

But welcome to the real world.

The real world? Come on dude, be better

 

[Orange&Blue]

My gut tells me this email was widely distributed for legality sake and they are likely targeting a select few sectors. Opm won't even read half the replies.

my gut tells me everything with be feed to AI to look for cuts based on responses

 

[Orange&Blue]

One thing I don't miss about working for the feds is reading all the emails about barbecues and fundraising events coming up. Maybe it's changed, but years ago I'd sort through so many emails and quickly delete the millions sent out to "all" without really reading. This "productiviity" email could very well be accidently deleted. Ha ha

I've never experienced this....

now 100s of emails because of idiots using the reply all button....yes.

 

[belljr]

One thing I don't miss about working for the feds is reading all the emails about barbecues and fundraising events coming up. Maybe it's changed, but years ago I'd sort through so many emails and quickly delete the millions sent out to "all" without really reading. This "productiviity" email could very well be accidently deleted. Ha ha

I've never experienced this....

now 100s of emails because of idiots using the reply all button....yes.

Replys to all

Stop replying all

 

[Orange&Blue]

Do all levels of government employees have access to their work emails outside the office?

with telework gone, nope. most are not allowed to work outside the office. we had to sign paperwork stating such

 

[Orange&Blue]

Law I can definitely see taking a pay cut but that’s not true in all industries. With the much better benefits there are a lot of jobs that there’s no way you’d make anything close to that in the private sector.

There’s some of that sure. Here, I work mainly with engineers - aerospace, mechanical, etc.
benefits are nice, sure. But many of us are retired military and don’t use many of the benefits of civil service. We just like what we do, feel like we’re good at it, and find value in it.

I'm an engineer supervisor for 16 engineers in the DoD. I've worked here for 25+ years on multiple weapon platforms.

It has always been difficult to recruit good experienced engineers. So, we are forced to almost always hire new college graduates.

We will never be able to compete with industry pay scale, but we have been moderately successful in showing the full spectrum of benefits. We are hourly and not salary. We get good retirement/health benefits and we have job security.

With this current BS I've already had two college grads (3.7+ GPA) back out. When asked their rational was with job security no longer being true, they would prefer the higher paying job and similar benefits.

Meanwhile, POTUS and Musk are openly mocking us for their treatment. My position, and 95% others across the federal workforce, is an hourly position. Even though that was the case, I would regularly check emails and help military units with technical issues outside work hours. With return to work, I was required to sign paperwork prohibiting telework. I am now required to drive 45 minutes each way to do those tasks. Guess what I'm not doing.

If they want us to be treated like "business" workers than they better compensate us accordingly.

 

[Jayrod]

I'm sure in this country; there's payments going out that constitute fraud; both at the SS level and even on the Federal employee timesheet level. How many instances of it would be needed to be found to justify the uncertainty and stress Federal employees are currently feeling?

Yes worrying about your job and having to justify it isn't fun.

But welcome to the real world.

The real world? Come on dude, be better

Sorry, like most non-government employees deal with.

Wasn't that the basis of the start of this thread; that the perks of working for the government, including job security, are much better than non governmental jobs?

Over half my family works as teachers. The amount of job security and apologizing for incompetence that goes on in governmental employment is drastically different and at times nonsensical, especially when compared to non-government.

But you know that already, which is why my comment struck a nerve.

 

[the moops]

I'm sure in this country; there's payments going out that constitute fraud; both at the SS level and even on the Federal employee timesheet level. How many instances of it would be needed to be found to justify the uncertainty and stress Federal employees are currently feeling?

Yes worrying about your job and having to justify it isn't fun.

But welcome to the real world.

The real world? Come on dude, be better

Sorry, like most non-government employees deal with.

Wasn't that the basis of the start of this thread; that the perks of working for the government, including job security, are much better than non governmental jobs?

Over half my family works as teachers. The amount of job security and apologizing for incompetence that goes on in governmental employment is drastically different and at times nonsensical, especially when compared to non-government.

But you know that already, which is why my comment struck a nerve.

We have had federal employees since the start of this nation. Their life experience is as much a "real world" experience as yours and mine, and any other private sector work

 

[Orange&Blue]

We got social security checks for my 80 year old grandfather for 15 months after his death in spite of us reporting them repeatedly (15 times) and not cashing them. Just kept coming.

Again, this is not SS checks that we are talking about. This is about non-existent or deceased employees that apparently are still getting checks

My money is on the investigation turning up fraud involving non-existent and/or identity theft involving deceased employees. You can believe what you like. Carry on.

So these dead people’s managers and then the multiple people above them who have to certify that the time cards are true are signing off on this every two weeks? Why would they do that?

Respectfully, some of you are showing you have no idea how the government works. You just don’t get a paycheck. It’s a process with checks involved.

Okay, you pulled the "I work for the government card" so I guess that ends the conversation. Carry on.

Don't you think someone who knows how the payroll works may have some insight and not just be ignored?

How about someone who has a close family relation that does COBOL programming for the Feds. Do you think that person might have some insight into some of these systems?

As a supervisor I am required to certify each employees timesheet. Any fraud claims, just like their travel vouchers, I am also financially responsible.

At least for the DoD, you are taking about an issue that is so microscopic in actual occurrence, even for a ~1m+ organization, it is by definition the poster child of the Baader meinhof phenomenon.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I'm frankly bewildered by all this.

What sort of Kafkaesque world have we created where asking someone the Office Space question of "What would you say...you do here?" results in this level hysterics?

Anyone with a job should be able to answer that. What would these people say about places where I worked where I had to give a status report and timesheet of every hour and activity I worked... Every single week?

The justification of non-response seems to be "One of the benefits of taking a government job is that I don't have to explain when and what I'm actually doing." That just doesn't make sense to me.

(I realize this is more of a generality than the specific topic of SS fraud some are focusing on here.)

 

[3C's]

One thing I don't miss about working for the feds is reading all the emails about barbecues and fundraising events coming up. Maybe it's changed, but years ago I'd sort through so many emails and quickly delete the millions sent out to "all" without really reading. This "productiviity" email could very well be accidently deleted. Ha ha

I've never experienced this....

now 100s of emails because of idiots using the reply all button....yes.

Replys to all

Stop replying all

Reply to all

I never did!

 

[Jayrod]

I'm sure in this country; there's payments going out that constitute fraud; both at the SS level and even on the Federal employee timesheet level. How many instances of it would be needed to be found to justify the uncertainty and stress Federal employees are currently feeling?

Yes worrying about your job and having to justify it isn't fun.

But welcome to the real world.

The real world? Come on dude, be better

Sorry, like most non-government employees deal with.

Wasn't that the basis of the start of this thread; that the perks of working for the government, including job security, are much better than non governmental jobs?

Over half my family works as teachers. The amount of job security and apologizing for incompetence that goes on in governmental employment is drastically different and at times nonsensical, especially when compared to non-government.

But you know that already, which is why my comment struck a nerve.

We have had federal employees since the start of this nation. Their life experience is as much a "real world" experience as yours and mine, and any other private sector work

I get it.

I don't think you get what I'm saying though.

ETA see Andy's post above.

 

[Orange&Blue]

I'm frankly bewildered by all this.

What sort of Kafkaesque world have we created where asking someone the Office Space question of "What would you say...you do here?" results in this level hysterics?

Anyone with a job should be able to answer that. What would these people say about places where I worked where I had to give a status report and timesheet of every hour and activity I worked... Every single week?

The justification of non-response seems to be "One if the benefits of taking a government job is that I don't have to explain when and what I'm actually doing." That just doesn't make sense to me.

Sigh...

It's not the "what did you do last week" that is the issue for me. It's the fact that the request is coming from someone outside my chain of command who has no legal right to know what CUI or higher I'm working on. And if I don't respond I am somehow resigning. Last I checked, resignation was my voluntary action.

FWIW, I send something up to my boss every week and my folks send me the same. If i tried to respond I would have to redact 95% of my response because of my job.

1) I can't tell you.
2) Still can't.
3) see above
4) ditto
5) ditto

Which is exactly my point. They are using such broad processes and descriptions without even looking to see what they are doing. Instead of doing this in a controlled and logical manner they are throwing **** on the wall and seeing what sticks/happens without looking at anything beyond number of people and organizational name. Or do I need to bring up them firing DoE employees working on nukes or CDC employees working on bird flu/etc.

If you want to cut 15% of the federal workforce, fine, go for it. But have the agencies who know what the **** their mission is figure it out. It doesn't start with cutting your future because you don't know what probationary employee means.

 

[CGRdrJoe]

I'm frankly bewildered by all this.

What sort of Kafkaesque world have we created where asking someone the Office Space question of "What would you say...you do here?" results in this level hysterics?

Anyone with a job should be able to answer that. What would these people say about places where I worked where I had to give a status report and timesheet of every hour and activity I worked... Every single week?

The justification of non-response seems to be "One of the benefits of taking a government job is that I don't have to explain when and what I'm actually doing." That just doesn't make sense to me.

(I realize this is more of a generality than the specific topic of SS fraud some are focusing on here.)

asking someone or asking over 2 million employees at every level of every federal agency. Imo that’s a huge difference

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I'm frankly bewildered by all this.

What sort of Kafkaesque world have we created where asking someone the Office Space question of "What would you say...you do here?" results in this level hysterics?

Anyone with a job should be able to answer that. What would these people say about places where I worked where I had to give a status report and timesheet of every hour and activity I worked... Every single week?

The justification of non-response seems to be "One of the benefits of taking a government job is that I don't have to explain when and what I'm actually doing." That just doesn't make sense to me.

(I realize this is more of a generality than the specific topic of SS fraud some are focusing on here.)

I'll tell you why it's different.

Imagine coming into work tomorrow and you receive an email that is outside of your organization and asking for your work production without any guidance or announcement it would happen. Other than from random news sources. Now imagine that third party doesn't actually oversee anything about your company.

There has been ZERO guidance from the powers that be to these random late night emails. Are we allowed to put sensitive information, what if we were out, what if I'm on call.

It's not the what .... It's the how.

I don't see that being all that different from a company either hiring outside auditors or being audited by a governmental agency.

I can admit the ambiguity of it all is a little frustrating. But again, that happens in private industry all the time - how am I supposed to appease these people? Uncertainty is part of that game.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I'm frankly bewildered by all this.

What sort of Kafkaesque world have we created where asking someone the Office Space question of "What would you say...you do here?" results in this level hysterics?

Anyone with a job should be able to answer that. What would these people say about places where I worked where I had to give a status report and timesheet of every hour and activity I worked... Every single week?

The justification of non-response seems to be "One of the benefits of taking a government job is that I don't have to explain when and what I'm actually doing." That just doesn't make sense to me.

(I realize this is more of a generality than the specific topic of SS fraud some are focusing on here.)

asking someone or asking over 2 million employees at every level of every federal agency. Imo that’s a huge difference

You know that when I said "I" had to do it that it wasn't a program specifically for me. Everyone at the company - thousands of people - had to do that.

The size of the organization is irrelevant. Except that the larger it is the likely it's more necessary.

 

[Jayrod]

Uhh, anyone in the employ of the Executive branch of the federal government absolutely works for the office of the President and whoever he appoints.

 

[ghostguy123]

I'm frankly bewildered by all this.

What sort of Kafkaesque world have we created where asking someone the Office Space question of "What would you say...you do here?" results in this level hysterics?

Anyone with a job should be able to answer that. What would these people say about places where I worked where I had to give a status report and timesheet of every hour and activity I worked... Every single week?

The justification of non-response seems to be "One of the benefits of taking a government job is that I don't have to explain when and what I'm actually doing." That just doesn't make sense to me.

(I realize this is more of a generality than the specific topic of SS fraud some are focusing on here.)

asking someone or asking over 2 million employees at every level of every federal agency. Imo that’s a huge difference

I dont think they are going to read the responses, instead just seeing who responds.

 

[the moops]

I don't see that being all that different from a company either hiring outside auditors or being audited by a governmental agency.

it is completely different if you take a moment to think on it. If I got an email on a Friday that said answer these 5 questions by Monday or it will be considered a resignation I would think it was spam or something worse. No business operates this way.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

And to be clear I'm all for cutting the dead weight.

It's the constant barrage of we are lazy, we suck, we don't actually work and random email blasts that are making people "crazy" and firing new hires only because and telling them it was because of poor performance

You want true outside independent auditors, cool go through each agency and do it.

It's unfortunate that the the dedicated are lumped in with the dead weight.

And Musk's methods aren't how I would go about it. But at present, the bar has been set pretty low with "Give an answer. Any one will do."

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I don't see that being all that different from a company either hiring outside auditors or being audited by a governmental agency.

it is completely different if you take a moment to think on it. If I got an email on a Friday that said answer these 5 questions by Monday or it will be considered a resignation I would think it was spam or something worse. No business operates this way.

Okay, that's a decent point. I wouldn't say it's completely different but I can appreciate the nuance.

What I'm questioning is the pushback of "I don't need to justify my position at all". I'd just copy/paste my job description and be done with it.

 

[Peggy]

I'm frankly bewildered by all this.

What sort of Kafkaesque world have we created where asking someone the Office Space question of "What would you say...you do here?" results in this level hysterics?

Anyone with a job should be able to answer that. What would these people say about places where I worked where I had to give a status report and timesheet of every hour and activity I worked... Every single week?

The justification of non-response seems to be "One of the benefits of taking a government job is that I don't have to explain when and what I'm actually doing." That just doesn't make sense to me.

(I realize this is more of a generality than the specific topic of SS fraud some are focusing on here.)

I'll tell you why it's different.

Imagine coming into work tomorrow and you receive an email that is outside of your organization and asking for your work production without any guidance or announcement it would happen. Other than from random news sources. Now imagine that third party doesn't actually oversee anything about your company.

There has been ZERO guidance from the powers that be to these random late night emails. Are we allowed to put sensitive information, what if we were out, what if I'm on call, what's it for?

It's not the what .... It's the how.

Every step of the way we get these random emails AND no one has any actual answers to any questions

Happens all the time. We post production rates and targets on the walls of our office expecting it to happen. In the old days we did that by hand and spreadsheets. Now days it's built into our subcontracts, purchases and payroll systems. It not only spits out production rates it analyzes for errors and efficiencies. Were constantly reviewing it, daily, weekly, monthly and on a 120 day basis. We do that because it's how you improve and make money. And it just so happens our biggest client is the government and they have no concept of this. On their side it's the opposite of efficiency in production.
No offense.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

And to be clear I'm all for cutting the dead weight.

It's the constant barrage of we are lazy, we suck, we don't actually work and random email blasts that are making people "crazy" and firing new hires only because and telling them it was because of poor performance

You want true outside independent auditors, cool go through each agency and do it.

It's unfortunate that the the dedicated are lumped in with the dead weight.

And Musk's methods aren't how I would go about it. But at present, the bar has been set pretty low with "Give an answer. Any one will do."

Again we have not been given any direction that "give an answer, any one will do"

There has been NOTHING.

Employees should not need twitter for formal directions.

All right. I'm seeing where that would be frustrating. I still think that the question is right to ask even if it's not being asked "correctly".

I'd be interested in seeing the actual email.

 

[MTskibum]

I'm frankly bewildered by all this.

What sort of Kafkaesque world have we created where asking someone the Office Space question of "What would you say...you do here?" results in this level hysterics?

Anyone with a job should be able to answer that. What would these people say about places where I worked where I had to give a status report and timesheet of every hour and activity I worked... Every single week?

The justification of non-response seems to be "One of the benefits of taking a government job is that I don't have to explain when and what I'm actually doing." That just doesn't make sense to me.

(I realize this is more of a generality than the specific topic of SS fraud some are focusing on here.)

A methodical approach where you make sure nothing is disrupted and only the low performers or least valuable are let go.

That takes time to determine, instead they are just axing positions to axe them.

 

[Orange&Blue]

And to be clear I'm all for cutting the dead weight.

It's the constant barrage of we are lazy, we suck, we don't actually work and random email blasts that are making people "crazy" and firing new hires only because and telling them it was because of poor performance

You want true outside independent auditors, cool go through each agency and do it.

It's unfortunate that the the dedicated are lumped in with the dead weight.

And Musk's methods aren't how I would go about it. But at present, the bar has been set pretty low with "Give an answer. Any one will do."

Again we have not been given any direction that "give an answer, any one will do"

There has been NOTHING.

Employees should not need twitter for formal directions.

All right. I'm seeing where that would be frustrating. I still think that the question is right to ask even if it's not being asked "correctly".

I'd be interested in seeing the actual email.

google has lots of links

 

[Peggy]

I mean just look at the first page of this thread. About a guy trying to get hired by the government and everybody warning him it's not a quick process. It took someone a full year. Just to hire someone. In the private sector that takes 5 minutes. Then a half day for orientation, they can be working by lunchtime.

Not saying the guys in charge are doing it right or not, but, there is a ton of waiste in our government. I'm glad someone is trying.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

And to be clear I'm all for cutting the dead weight.

It's the constant barrage of we are lazy, we suck, we don't actually work and random email blasts that are making people "crazy" and firing new hires only because and telling them it was because of poor performance

You want true outside independent auditors, cool go through each agency and do it.

It's unfortunate that the the dedicated are lumped in with the dead weight.

And Musk's methods aren't how I would go about it. But at present, the bar has been set pretty low with "Give an answer. Any one will do."

Again we have not been given any direction that "give an answer, any one will do"

There has been NOTHING.

Employees should not need twitter for formal directions.

All right. I'm seeing where that would be frustrating. I still think that the question is right to ask even if it's not being asked "correctly".

I'd be interested in seeing the actual email.

google has lots of links

I see a million about an email being sent but none with the actual email.

 

[BrutalPenguin]

I have seen, in a private tech F500 company, an edict that every first line manager with 10+ employees has to pick 2 to lay off. To me, that seems to have parallels to what's happening now.

Also, I have manager level info that an employee that moved on from said company, was being paid, or at least being sent paychecks, for 3 pay periods beyond his departure.

These things seem to happen in both private and government work.

 

[fruity pebbles]

And to be clear I'm all for cutting the dead weight.

It's the constant barrage of we are lazy, we suck, we don't actually work and random email blasts that are making people "crazy" and firing new hires only because and telling them it was because of poor performance

You want true outside independent auditors, cool go through each agency and do it.

It's unfortunate that the the dedicated are lumped in with the dead weight.

And Musk's methods aren't how I would go about it. But at present, the bar has been set pretty low with "Give an answer. Any one will do."

Again we have not been given any direction that "give an answer, any one will do"

There has been NOTHING.

Employees should not need twitter for formal directions.

All right. I'm seeing where that would be frustrating. I still think that the question is right to ask even if it's not being asked "correctly".

I'd be interested in seeing the actual email.

google has lots of links

Just looked it up. Said to please list five things you accomplished last week while CCing the list to your supervisor and don’t include any classified info. Not seeing the big deal honestly.

 

[Osaurus]

And to be clear I'm all for cutting the dead weight.

It's the constant barrage of we are lazy, we suck, we don't actually work and random email blasts that are making people "crazy" and firing new hires only because and telling them it was because of poor performance

You want true outside independent auditors, cool go through each agency and do it.

It's unfortunate that the the dedicated are lumped in with the dead weight.

And Musk's methods aren't how I would go about it. But at present, the bar has been set pretty low with "Give an answer. Any one will do."

Again we have not been given any direction that "give an answer, any one will do"

There has been NOTHING.

Employees should not need twitter for formal directions.

All right. I'm seeing where that would be frustrating. I still think that the question is right to ask even if it's not being asked "correctly".

I'd be interested in seeing the actual email.

Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner.bsky.social)

BREAKING: As Elon Musk said on X would be happening, I can now report that all federal employees are receiving an email directing them to provide “approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week.” It directs them not to send any classified information and is due by 11:59p Monday.

bsky.app

And it's flagged as outside servers

Hotmail account?

 

[Andy Dufresne]

And to be clear I'm all for cutting the dead weight.

It's the constant barrage of we are lazy, we suck, we don't actually work and random email blasts that are making people "crazy" and firing new hires only because and telling them it was because of poor performance

You want true outside independent auditors, cool go through each agency and do it.

It's unfortunate that the the dedicated are lumped in with the dead weight.

And Musk's methods aren't how I would go about it. But at present, the bar has been set pretty low with "Give an answer. Any one will do."

Again we have not been given any direction that "give an answer, any one will do"

There has been NOTHING.

Employees should not need twitter for formal directions.

All right. I'm seeing where that would be frustrating. I still think that the question is right to ask even if it's not being asked "correctly".

I'd be interested in seeing the actual email.

Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner.bsky.social)

BREAKING: As Elon Musk said on X would be happening, I can now report that all federal employees are receiving an email directing them to provide “approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week.” It directs them not to send any classified information and is due by 11:59p Monday.

bsky.app

And it's flagged as outside servers

Okay. Let me sum up.

How this is being asked is dumb.

The reaction of "how dare this question be asked by this guy" is also bad.

I empathize with those doing a good and valuable job that don't know what the heck they're supposed to do about this.

 

[Orange&Blue]

I mean just look at the first page of this thread. About a guy trying to get hired by the government and everybody warning him it's not a quick process. It took someone a full year. Just to hire someone. In the private sector that takes 5 minutes. Then a half day for orientation, they can be working by lunchtime.

Not saying the guys in charge are doing it right or not, but, there is a ton of waiste in our government. I'm glad someone is trying.

I don't think you will find too many federal workers who wouldn't want improved processes/efficiencies/etc.

But I'm not sure how you will make things better when the only thing you've done is firing a bunch of people who were following the processes/procedures that your now reduced workforce will also be using.

Seems a smarter approach would be to design/refine/etc those process improvements and then get rid of the "waste".

But what do i know of efficiencies, I'm just a lazy idiot federal worker.

 

[the moops]

I have seen, in a private tech F500 company, an edict that every first line manager with 10+ employees has to pick 2 to lay off. To me, that seems to have parallels to what's happening now.

But that's not what is happening at all. There is no manager getting to choose who to let go of. This is not weeding out unproductive employees it is weeding out a percent regardless of their performance

 

[fruity pebbles]

And to be clear I'm all for cutting the dead weight.

It's the constant barrage of we are lazy, we suck, we don't actually work and random email blasts that are making people "crazy" and firing new hires only because and telling them it was because of poor performance

You want true outside independent auditors, cool go through each agency and do it.

It's unfortunate that the the dedicated are lumped in with the dead weight.

And Musk's methods aren't how I would go about it. But at present, the bar has been set pretty low with "Give an answer. Any one will do."

Again we have not been given any direction that "give an answer, any one will do"

There has been NOTHING.

Employees should not need twitter for formal directions.

All right. I'm seeing where that would be frustrating. I still think that the question is right to ask even if it's not being asked "correctly".

I'd be interested in seeing the actual email.

Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner.bsky.social)

BREAKING: As Elon Musk said on X would be happening, I can now report that all federal employees are receiving an email directing them to provide “approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week.” It directs them not to send any classified information and is due by 11:59p Monday.

bsky.app

And it's flagged as outside servers

Okay. Let me sum up.

How this is being asked is dumb.

The reaction of "how dare this question be asked by this guy" is also bad.

I empathize with those doing a good and valuable job that don't know what the heck they're supposed to do about this.

Agree but unfortunately as an employee we don’t get to decide how things are done. Have had several streamline agencies come in and recommend a list of changes that to me seem stupid and like they have no idea how things are really run. You do what you’re asked or basically find another job is how it usually shakes out.

 

[-OZ-]

Law I can definitely see taking a pay cut but that’s not true in all industries. With the much better benefits there are a lot of jobs that there’s no way you’d make anything close to that in the private sector.

There’s some of that sure. Here, I work mainly with engineers - aerospace, mechanical, etc.
benefits are nice, sure. But many of us are retired military and don’t use many of the benefits of civil service. We just like what we do, feel like we’re good at it, and find value in it.

I'm an engineer supervisor for 16 engineers in the DoD. I've worked here for 25+ years on multiple weapon platforms.

It has always been difficult to recruit good experienced engineers. So, we are forced to almost always hire new college graduates.

We will never be able to compete with industry pay scale, but we have been moderately successful in showing the full spectrum of benefits. We are hourly and not salary. We get good retirement/health benefits and we have job security.

With this current BS I've already had two college grads (3.7+ GPA) back out. When asked their rational was with job security no longer being true, they would prefer the higher paying job and similar benefits.

Meanwhile, POTUS and Musk are openly mocking us for their treatment. My position, and 95% others across the federal workforce, is an hourly position. Even though that was the case, I would regularly check emails and help military units with technical issues outside work hours. With return to work, I was required to sign paperwork prohibiting telework. I am now required to drive 45 minutes each way to do those tasks. Guess what I'm not doing.

If they want us to be treated like "business" workers than they better compensate us accordingly.

Yep. I had postponed my recruiting trip to a local large law school from February to March, but I’m thinking it would be a waste of a trip so not worth doing.

 

[Orange&Blue]

And to be clear I'm all for cutting the dead weight.

It's the constant barrage of we are lazy, we suck, we don't actually work and random email blasts that are making people "crazy" and firing new hires only because and telling them it was because of poor performance

You want true outside independent auditors, cool go through each agency and do it.

It's unfortunate that the the dedicated are lumped in with the dead weight.

And Musk's methods aren't how I would go about it. But at present, the bar has been set pretty low with "Give an answer. Any one will do."

Again we have not been given any direction that "give an answer, any one will do"

There has been NOTHING.

Employees should not need twitter for formal directions.

All right. I'm seeing where that would be frustrating. I still think that the question is right to ask even if it's not being asked "correctly".

I'd be interested in seeing the actual email.

google has lots of links

Just looked it up. Said to please list five things you accomplished last week while CCing the list to your supervisor and don’t include any classified info. Not seeing the big deal honestly.

because you/he don't understand classified information.

While my one piece of contribution may not be unclassified, when you combine it with 1000s of other pieces you can generate classified information.

 

[Peggy]

I mean just look at the first page of this thread. About a guy trying to get hired by the government and everybody warning him it's not a quick process. It took someone a full year. Just to hire someone. In the private sector that takes 5 minutes. Then a half day for orientation, they can be working by lunchtime.

Not saying the guys in charge are doing it right or not, but, there is a ton of waiste in our government. I'm glad someone is trying.

I don't think you will find too many federal workers who wouldn't want improved processes/etc.

But I'm not sure how you will make things better when the only thing you've done is firing a bunch of people who were following the processes/procedures that your now reduced workforce will also be using.

Seems a smarter approach would be to design/refine/etc those process improvements and then get rid of the "waste".

But what do i know of efficiencies, I'm just a lazy idiot federal worker.

Agree, and again I have no idea if the guys in charge are doing it right or not. I have no idea.

But I will relay another private sector experience. Our overhead grew (as it does with new standards and regulation put on us) but at one point it was too big and it came to cuts. Every overhead department head had to cut one person and absorb the work. Wasnt awesome but we survived and it improved the bottom line.

 

[massraider]

A person might think the sentiment, "I'm in favor of cuts, but this seems like the wrong way to do it" would be easy to grasp, but that person would be wrong.

 

[Orange&Blue]

I mean just look at the first page of this thread. About a guy trying to get hired by the government and everybody warning him it's not a quick process. It took someone a full year. Just to hire someone. In the private sector that takes 5 minutes. Then a half day for orientation, they can be working by lunchtime.

Not saying the guys in charge are doing it right or not, but, there is a ton of waiste in our government. I'm glad someone is trying.

I don't think you will find too many federal workers who wouldn't want improved processes/etc.

But I'm not sure how you will make things better when the only thing you've done is firing a bunch of people who were following the processes/procedures that your now reduced workforce will also be using.

Seems a smarter approach would be to design/refine/etc those process improvements and then get rid of the "waste".

But what do i know of efficiencies, I'm just a lazy idiot federal worker.

Agree, and again I have no idea if the guys in charge are doing it right or not. I have no idea.

But I will relay another private sector experience. Our overhead grew (as it does with new standards and regulation put on us) but at one point it was too big and it came to cuts. Every overhead department head had to cut one person and absorb the work. Wasnt awesome but we survived and it improved the bottom line.

and we've seen our overhead grow and i would have no problem with trimming it back to 2010 levels. But the method they are are doing this is contrary to their intended purpose...making the government better.

 

[Orange&Blue]

And to be clear I'm all for cutting the dead weight.

It's the constant barrage of we are lazy, we suck, we don't actually work and random email blasts that are making people "crazy" and firing new hires only because and telling them it was because of poor performance

You want true outside independent auditors, cool go through each agency and do it.

It's unfortunate that the the dedicated are lumped in with the dead weight.

And Musk's methods aren't how I would go about it. But at present, the bar has been set pretty low with "Give an answer. Any one will do."

Again we have not been given any direction that "give an answer, any one will do"

There has been NOTHING.

Employees should not need twitter for formal directions.

All right. I'm seeing where that would be frustrating. I still think that the question is right to ask even if it's not being asked "correctly".

I'd be interested in seeing the actual email.

Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner.bsky.social)

BREAKING: As Elon Musk said on X would be happening, I can now report that all federal employees are receiving an email directing them to provide “approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week.” It directs them not to send any classified information and is due by 11:59p Monday.

bsky.app

And it's flagged as outside servers

Okay. Let me sum up.

How this is being asked is dumb.

The reaction of "how dare this question be asked by this guy" is also bad.

I empathize with those doing a good and valuable job that don't know what the heck they're supposed to do about this.

Agree but unfortunately as an employee we don’t get to decide how things are done. Have had several streamline agencies come in and recommend a list of changes that to me seem stupid and like they have no idea how things are really run. You do what you’re asked or basically find another job is how it usually shakes out.

did your job involve the nations defense?

 

[Sparky Polastri]

Uhh, anyone in the employ of the Executive branch of the federal government absolutely works for the office of the President and whoever he appoints.

If Musk is an actual govt appointee (don't know if he is or isnt) then he has federal conflict of interest issues.

 

[fruity pebbles]

And to be clear I'm all for cutting the dead weight.

It's the constant barrage of we are lazy, we suck, we don't actually work and random email blasts that are making people "crazy" and firing new hires only because and telling them it was because of poor performance

You want true outside independent auditors, cool go through each agency and do it.

It's unfortunate that the the dedicated are lumped in with the dead weight.

And Musk's methods aren't how I would go about it. But at present, the bar has been set pretty low with "Give an answer. Any one will do."

Again we have not been given any direction that "give an answer, any one will do"

There has been NOTHING.

Employees should not need twitter for formalThe email was sent from

And to be clear I'm all for cutting the dead weight.

It's the constant barrage of we are lazy, we suck, we don't actually work and random email blasts that are making people "crazy" and firing new hires only because and telling them it was because of poor performance

You want true outside independent auditors, cool go through each agency and do it.

It's unfortunate that the the dedicated are lumped in with the dead weight.

And Musk's methods aren't how I would go about it. But at present, the bar has been set pretty low with "Give an answer. Any one will do."

Again we have not been given any direction that "give an answer, any one will do"

There has been NOTHING.

Employees should not need twitter for formal directions.

All right. I'm seeing where that would be frustrating. I still think that the question is right to ask even if it's not being asked "correctly".

I'd be interested in seeing the actual email.

Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner.bsky.social)

BREAKING: As Elon Musk said on X would be happening, I can now report that all federal employees are receiving an email directing them to provide “approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week.” It directs them not to send any classified information and is due by 11:59p Monday.

bsky.app

And it's flagged as outside servers

Okay. Let me sum up.

How this is being asked is dumb.

The reaction of "how dare this question be asked by this guy" is also bad.

I empathize with those doing a good and valuable job that don't know what the heck they're supposed to do about this.

Agree but unfortunately as an employee we don’t get to decide how things are done. Have had several streamline agencies come in and recommend a list of changes that to me seem stupid and like they have no idea how things are really run. You do what you’re asked or basically find another job is how it usually shakes out.

did your job involve the nations defense?

No but it involves HIPAA laws. It’s the president of the country or his direct appointees asking for the info. It’s not like you’re being asked by the janitor.

 

[AAABatteries]

You could make an argument that this is a coincidence of sorts. I don't want to discuss it politically here, but the reputation of the parties is certainly small govt conservatism vs big government spending - so of course if you're just tracking waste, you'd look at all the stuff you think is wasteful first, which would likely be anything that extends beyond the "small govt" ideology.

I think it would be difficult to untangle the two because, for example, one persons idea of waste could be "not achieving the agency's mission in the most efficient possible manner" while another could be "anything in support of a mission that in itself is wasteful".

The FFA probably isn't the place for debating what is or isn't a wasteful mission, but I don't think it's remotely ground breaking, surprising, or sinister that things might line up that way quickly in execution of a huge waste reduction initiative.

Thank you.

I agree with you this doesn't seem groundbreaking it would line up this way.

And please, let's drop it there and keep this to the topic of non partisan information and helping people affected by this navigate. The "what is wasteful spending" or "look at how dumb these people are" stuff is political forum talk.

Please let's keep this thread alive if possible and avoid taking it there.

I'm glad you popped in here because I want to ask a couple tough questions and you are the guy to set the narrative or keep us on track

-#1 I've seen it with people from ALL walks of life on the TV, ALL Networks...with these potential mass layoffs, many of us have family members that we do not associate with a particular political party. They are just regular people like the rest of us. And some of these people are being shown the door or walked out or asked to voluntarily resign.

How do you accept that innocent folks are having their entire lives turned upside down?
It feels very unsettling, my brother has worked for Veterans Affairs for years and I'm afraid that time is coming to an end. He is in IT-CyberSecurity so I have no doubt he will land on his feet but that choice should not have been forced on him IMHO. He sacrifices a lot of potential paycheck by working as a government employee and part of that his dedication to other Veterans that have put their lives on the line so we can all enjoy the freedoms of this country. My brother was a Navy Corpsman

#2 Is it natural to support some of these cuts in government while at the same time also feeling disturbed by some of the folks that are being forced out of their careers?

I believe that is as far as I can really take it. I just want others out there going thru this either themselves or family members, you're not alone.
I am concerned many of these folks are likely living paycheck to paycheck, people with families/children could lose their homes as this unfolds.

Thanks JB

It’s interesting to watch how this is being viewed when this happens in the private sector every day. It’s accepted because, “Capitalism”, but we expect more from government. And maybe that is the discussion - should government be run like a for-profit organization? I suppose you can then have a discussion around the morality of Capitalism.

I can only speak for myself but I have a huge problem with how many companies have almost no loyalty to their employees. If that’s a byproduct of capitalism then I’m fine with saying capitalism can **** right off. Greed is ruining our country and the world in general - although, same as day 1.