Yeah, so it's on my profile that I like benchmarking. Not any more, for obvious reasons. The lack of a pay hike for us poor overworked servants of the public wouldn't smart so much were it not for the exorbitant increases granted to the politicians and top brass back in October... polarising the public service is going to have some ill-effects in the long run, just wait and see. On a happy note, this doesn't affect the National Wage Agreement, so we can still benefit under that. Along with some private sector firms, so they can shut the hell up.
Honestly, the amount of ill-informed public sector bashing that has appeared in Independent.ie (Comments on the benchmarking story) and discussion forums (such as askaboutmoney and boards.ie) is alarming (but entertaining also). Do people really hate us that much? Or is it just begrudgery of our "jobs for life", our flexible working hours, pensions and pay increases more or less guaranteed?
I admit, these things are all great. But there are downsides too, sharing an office with several unmotivated cynics riding it out till retirement at the top of their scale can wear you down and you'll find after a few years if you can't beat them, join them. PMDS is another pain that we'll never get shot of. I've only been doing this for about two years, and already I have a large collection of useless PMDS forms. Also the bureaucracy, how many layers of management does information have to pass through before it's distorted beyond its original meaning? And no matter how hard you work, the slacker/ moron at the next desk will get a pay rise the same as you?
It's not all cakes and tea breaks. No, that's only 95% of what we do.
To digress slightly, I have read the report of the benchmarking body and can pat myself on the back as one of the 472 EOs offered appointment out of over 11,000 applicants from the 2005 open EO competition, a 4.7% chance of getting a job(page 56). A nice statistic.
OK, well, I'm off to the pub now to drink my non existent pay rise.
Honestly, the amount of ill-informed public sector bashing that has appeared in Independent.ie (Comments on the benchmarking story) and discussion forums (such as askaboutmoney and boards.ie) is alarming (but entertaining also). Do people really hate us that much? Or is it just begrudgery of our "jobs for life", our flexible working hours, pensions and pay increases more or less guaranteed?
I admit, these things are all great. But there are downsides too, sharing an office with several unmotivated cynics riding it out till retirement at the top of their scale can wear you down and you'll find after a few years if you can't beat them, join them. PMDS is another pain that we'll never get shot of. I've only been doing this for about two years, and already I have a large collection of useless PMDS forms. Also the bureaucracy, how many layers of management does information have to pass through before it's distorted beyond its original meaning? And no matter how hard you work, the slacker/ moron at the next desk will get a pay rise the same as you?
It's not all cakes and tea breaks. No, that's only 95% of what we do.
To digress slightly, I have read the report of the benchmarking body and can pat myself on the back as one of the 472 EOs offered appointment out of over 11,000 applicants from the 2005 open EO competition, a 4.7% chance of getting a job(page 56). A nice statistic.
OK, well, I'm off to the pub now to drink my non existent pay rise.
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