12-11-2012, 08:30 AM
HAULN-SS Wrote:Just to chime in on the pay thing..Federal benefits aren't what they used to be. I have never worked for the fed directly, but all else being the same, they are undercompensated. I'd guess 20%. The last time I looked for a job, I was surprised to see how many companies in this area have really good benefits. The company I worked for before contributed 6% to 401k, and matched another 4. All that while having 100% paid health care with 10$ deductibles, and giving 1200$ to your FSA. I thought that was sort of uncommon until I searched around for the job after that - a lot of places are starting to make benefits more of a priority.
Yep, the pay will be lower to start with but after 10 years in, its a different story. I've noticed in the past 4-5 years there's been a big trend with private sector to start pinching benefits - 401k matching and health care costs are being hit the hardest - 100% health care is really unusual now. Private sector is looking at the 'obama care' health care changes and using it as an excuse to raise employee contributions or to switch to cheaper, shitty coverage to save them money. Gov workers will also, in the long run, get more vacation time, almost always capped at 40 hours a week, and have some work schedule options that wont exist in private sector, like every other friday off (5/4/9). And, if you have a gov job, its not going away - I got laid off last year, and
Quote:My friend just got a job working for Living Social after working for the government for like 6 years..likes the new job a lot.
Grass is always greener. Might be a different story in 2 or 3 years if he gets laid off.