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Judge the benefits you get and pay vs. pay elsewhere. You likely get mostly free healthcare as a government worker, a private sector worker though wouldn't. You got to consider those issues.
If not, you are going to work way more hours, less vacation, less sick time, no comp time, no pension etc......
Your work-life balance is going to go down.
They will pay you more, but you are just going to work more for it.
If you don't mind saying, what step are you at?
Federal is almost getting to the point where hiring and COL adjustments will come back with a bang. 14s will open up, you'll be able to make more money etc....
Everyone has to make the decision for themselves, but I have experience on both sides and no way would I leave.
The work-life balance is priceless.
This.
I had a four year term appointment with the feds. Unfortunately hiring prospects were low at the time my appointment ended (and since my appointment was non-competitive I didn't qualify as a fed for hiring purposes) so I had to go private sector.
I now have a job with half as many vacation days and half as many holidays. There is a little more flexibility for working from home, etc, but the flip side is that it's ten at night and I am doing work from home. When I was with the feds there was a class action with the union regarding employees working more than 40 hours a week, even if their supervisors didn't know about it!
I make about 10% more than I did with the feds but I would go back in a heartbeat given the chance.
Judge the benefits you get and pay vs. pay elsewhere. You likely get mostly free healthcare as a government worker, a private sector worker though wouldn't. You got to consider those issues.
no, federal employees do not get free health care.
IT. I actually enjoy my position and treated great. The new position just offers me a different challenge. I am trying to understand what I would be losing leaving the govt.
Stay where you are at. Things to consider, why is this private employment opened? What happened to the last guy?
From what I have understood, you would always have first choice at any position in government that opened up, a big plus if you ever get bored and want something different. You need to hang onto those benefits, even if pay is slightly less. Need more money, look at jobs in the system. Tool yourself up with some classes if need be to get a better position.
NOTHING is guaranteed in the private sector anymore, Not pay, not job, not Paid Time Off {PTO}, no pension, not anything.
MOH is a state-adjunct employee, and we are trying to get MOH into a State or even county position, if not federal. The ADjunct position DOESN'T give My Other Half squat!
With your government job, You should have:
1} reasonable health insurance cost and benefits {MOH has a $2,700 deductible, then pays 80% of the next $5,600 OUT OF POCKET, BEFORE They will then pay just 80% of the tab. Last year, between my health insurance costs, MOH's costs, and paying the deductibles for two surgeries MOH had, we spent 52% of our GROSS income on health care!}
2} PENSION: a BIGGIE, even if it took 10 or 15 years to be vested, YOU have a pension, and pensions are disappearing in the private sector at an alarmingly FAST rate!!! Even IF offered one, it may disappear BEFORE or DURING your retirement!!!! The Government pensions are NOT likely to go away. The pension is pretty much guaranteed, whereas even in the private sector, even if the pay was excellent and you invested the overage of pay over the gov't job's pay, you MAY STILL LOSE it in the market, whereas the gov't will continue to pay its pension obligations, at the expense of the taxpayers. It may be "intangible" to you NOW, as you don't see it, but you will thank your lucky stars later on when you DO retire.
3} Paid holidays and getting the OFF. MOH has 7 paid holidays that match the federal holiays, the others are NOT holiday-paid!! There are what, 11 or 12 Federal holidays, and you GET THEM ALL OFF. OF the 7 paid holidays MOH gets, only ONE...CHristmas, Is guaranteed OFF for the day, Others may be "floated", but YOU- at your gov't job- will get guaranteed days off for the holiday, most often extended weekends! MOH only gets holiday pay IF MOH works ON IT, you will get it regardless. ALSO, MOH works a second job the requirements for Holiday pay there is, One MUST work the scheduled day BEFORE the holiday, AND the scheduled day AFTER The holiday in order to get HOLIDAY pay, even when it's a day of work ON the holiday!!!
4} you most likely get PTO for personal and sick days, and they most likely will accrue some time for you if unused. MOH gets NONE. The private sector has had to recently pass LAWS {in my state} forcing certain businesses in the private sector in certain areas PROVIDE the paid time off for sickness! BUT, they DON' ACCRUE, so if you know you have a surgery coming up, you can't "save them up" in the private sector {as a general rule} to use when recouping.
5} There are other benefits we in the private sector are not even aware of, let alone get, I am sure!
6} THERE are NO guarantees in the private sector for JOB SECURITY. Your job may disappear the year after you start! Even OWNING your own business is NO GUARANTEE, if the customers/clients don't come, YOU don't eat!
SO, I'd think VERY CAREFULLY about leaving a "cushy" job you say you love, are treated well at, and has vast benefits. The private sector is iffy at best now, many Wall streeters thought they had it made, big salaries, jobs jobs jobs, until the bottom fell out of the market, the banks were on verge of collapse and had to be bailed out, and they all lost their jobs and good pay. Many are now working at other jobs at a fraction of their former pay!
Just my advice, you asked for it. SO KEEP YOUR JOB!
I had a buddy that did this very thing. Left a Federal gig for a shiny new position at a Fortune 200. Got laid off 8 months later. In the private sector youre subject to the ebbs and flows of the markets.
Wife and I worked 30 years for a federal agency, then retired young. I was 53; she a few years older. There were opportunities to go to the private sector at higher pay but I rejected them.
Not because of the fed. pension, fairly good health insurance, or generous vacation and sick leave .... but because of job security. That's the most important thing.
Never give up a comfy public sector job with good pay, great benefits, great retirement , and being treated like a human instead of a robot. for any crappy private sector job. You have no idea how good you have it. Private sector is nothing but a cesspool of despair and misery today
Stay. Job security trumps the whims of a shiny MBA or Six Sigma "Black Belt" who has just been hired to "turn the company in a new direction!" craze that has taken over the American private sector over the past 30 years.
"You know what the trouble is, Brucey? We used to make s*** in this country, build s***. Now we just put our hand in the next guy's pocket." - Frank Sobokta, The Wire, season 2
GS-13 after 7 years is way better than average. If the private job pays > 50K over GS-13 and you can save ~40K/yr of that for retirement, it's a wash. Otherwise stay fed.
use me as an example please, I was a 13 for less than two years and move to a 14 recently. I plan to stay with fed 'til I retire. I am mid 30s.
you will appreciate the benefits more than anything. Quality of life is there if it is important to you.
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