About Government and Politics Field:
It is the perception of many people that government employees are indolent. However, latest studies have shown that government employees might truly work harder than people working in the private sector.
According to a study conducted by Gregory B. Lewis and Sue A. Frank, two researchers from the Georgia State University, government employees work more than the private sector workforce.
There is also another view of most people to see government employees as incompetent. While addressing the Oklahoma State Legislature on the subject of government reform, Senator John McCain brought forth the issue of heavy-handed federal employees who might never be fired. According to him, the civil service has lost their position as reformists, and has transformed into a no-accountable sector. Government employment is considered as a right and at the same time good performance and accountability as options.
Such system is unfair with many brilliant employees who should be promoted in the place of those who are not performing well. It is very tricky to fire employees on the basis of misconduct. It is the failure of the federal government that they cannot fire the employees who perform poorly. A study conducted by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management comes across a fact that only few government employees (less than 4 percent) are termed as poor performers by supervisors.
There is also another misconception about government employees that their work revolves around lots of red tape and a clock to punch. However, the fact is there are various kinds of job positions in the federal, state and local. Though most of the positions are in offices, there are some other job positions also. Along with clerks and secretaries; the government employs attorneys, health care workers, criminal investigators, air traffic controllers, researchers, and scientists. There are various job categories which range from zoologist to seaman.
Government employees work hard and sincerely in order to serve the people of America and their respective departments. In government jobs, your office culture depends largely on the department for which you're working as well as the location of the office. According to an employee working for the Environmental Protection Agency, it is an exceptional experience to work for the federal government.
Other general saying is that government employees are usually unhappy with their job. However, most of the time, this is not the case. According to a report released by the Merit Systems Protection Board in May 2007, most of the government employees stick to their jobs even though there is less organizational stability and also pay systems changes. Also, the level of fulfillment also depends on the agency.
As per one report, employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were among the least satisfied. At the same time, employees working for information technology are the most satisfied employees in terms of their job. Also, each agency is favorable for different categories of workers. As far as job satisfaction is concerned, the Army, the Justice Department and Social Security Administration top the list while the Agriculture Department, the General Services Administration and the Homeland Security Department are among the bottom of the list.
Please refer to the following articles regarding the Government and Politics Career: