Any federal employees facing a furlough?

[Tiggeroo]

Federal employees with high specific skills such as engineers and accountants accept lower pay than in the private sector in exchange for benefits and job security. We will lose some of these people.
Good schools who produce good students cannot afford any more budget cuts. Do you want your children in a class with 45 students, 15% special needs or behavior problems, no aide, taught by a teacher who has been forced to give up her prep period? This is where we are heading.
Politicians rarely send their kids to public schools, no matter what political party.
Cut waste of course. But do you think a 20% tax rate in a middle class family of 5 is nearly the same sacrifice as a 14% tax rate in a mufti-millionaire? Raising taxes on the very wealthy may be one of the ways we don't become Greece. Also, there are foreign aid programs that could be decreased or temporarily suspended.

 

[Christine]

This is exactly what I am saying.

Government employee have been sheltered from this most of their careers. In the past they would get retro pay for furloughs. So they did not work, Got paid and then may have even got OT to get the job done they were paid for already. A net loss to taxpayers.

Blame your government for that and not the worker.

Also remember that during the "go-go" 80s and most of the 90s, no one gave a rat's behind that the government worker, while "sheltered" was way behind in pay/benefits during the boom years. I was a contractor then working in support of the federal government and I was making quite a bit more than my government counterparts. Nope, people only want to complain about the government worker when their situation happens to turn around. I guess the private sector will only speak up with they are no longer on top.

 

[ilovemk76]

Federal employees with high specific skills such as engineers and accountants accept lower pay than in the private sector in exchange for benefits and job security. We will lose some of these people.
Good schools who produce good students cannot afford any more budget cuts. Do you want your children in a class with 45 students, 15% special needs or behavior problems, no aide, taught by a teacher who has been forced to give up her prep period? This is where we are heading.
Politicians rarely send their kids to public schools, no matter what political party.
Cut waste of course. But do you think a 20% tax rate in a middle class family of 5 is nearly the same sacrifice as a 14% tax rate in a mufti-millionaire? Raising taxes on the very wealthy may be one of the ways we don't become Greece. Also, there are foreign aid programs that could be decreased or temporarily suspended.

Not according to http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-04-federal-pay_N.htm#chart

One has to look at the total compensation package when comparing two jobs. The public employees geT more benefits, you agree, and they out earn the private sector.

 

[TDC Nala]

you know, they should just say "y'all are going to have to work the same amount of hours but take a pay cut." Don't drag it out by pushing it all down the street a few months at a time and making people think they're going to get their old pay levels back.

 

[joviroxx]

Blame your government for that and not the worker.

Also remember that during the "go-go" 80s and most of the 90s, no one gave a rat's behind that the government worker, while "sheltered" was way behind in pay/benefits during the boom years. I was a contractor then working in support of the federal government and I was making quite a bit more than my government counterparts. Nope, people only want to complain about the government worker when their situation happens to turn around. I guess the private sector will only speak up with they are no longer on top.

OK, I won't say much because politics is against the rules here, but Im not sure what you are saying or implying. The government worker is paid from the production of the private sector. Its their production that produces tax revenue to pay government workers. If the private sector isn't on top, government will NOT have money to pay for anything. The private sector NEEDS to be on top for the government to be able to pay their employees.

 

[Christine]

Not according to http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-04-federal-pay_N.htm#chart

One has to look at the total compensation package when comparing two jobs. The public employees geT more benefits, you agree, and they out earn the private sector.

There are about 4 studies out currently that all show different results. I believe that, overall, it was determined that those with higher education made less in the government than their private sector counterparts--benefits included. People with a high school education only seemed to do much better in the public sector than they do in the private sector. Mostly due to longevity.

We can argue studies back and forth all day because there will always be one to fit your worldview, especially if you happen to love anything put out by The Heritage Foundation (because they are SO objective). The real point of the matter is that in some cities/towns, the feds do better. In some areas, the private sector does better. In some decades the private sector comes out on top and during other times, it switches around. The real issue is that no one can quite seem to get a handle on it.

 

[Christine]

OK, I won't say much because politics is against the rules here, but Im not sure what you are saying or implying. The government worker is paid from the production of the private sector. Its their production that produces tax revenue to pay government workers. If the private sector isn't on top, government will NOT have money to pay for anything. The private sector NEEDS to be on top for the government to be able to pay their employees.

I"m talking on a micro-level here. I don't like this sour grapes mentality that some people have WRT "if I can't do well, you don't deserve to do well either."

 

[disykat]

And the point that I want to make is that we all realize that budgets need to be cut and downsizing needs to occur. But let's do it in a smart way. The sequester is not the smart way. It also causes all these government agencies to go into this weird "contingency" mode that is 100% unhelpful. My senior management has to go into a planning meeting every morning for 2 hours to address the latest updates. We've got our HR people going through these crazy drills to get everything outlined on paper. Just come of with a freaking reduced budget and let us do our jobs.

To think that federal employees have been heartless about private employees losing jobs is just misguided. Many of us a married to people working in the private sector who have been laid off, many of us have kids in the private sector who have been laid off, and many of us have had parents who were in the private sector who were laid off and will never work again because of age discrimination. So please don't think that we are living in some la-la land.

I don't really care for the attitude of "Oh well, it's been going on the in private sector so just suck it up." There's seems to be a lot of 'joy' in people watching others get pulled down. What's with this stupid race-to-the-bottom mentality?

Great post. I don't know anyone who hasn't been sympathetic to others who have gone through furloughs, job losses, business closures, etc. due to the economy. I'm not sure why people think there should be no sympathy for those who just happen to be government employees.

In many of the posts some of us have made about this, we've expressed concern not just for ourselves but for the businesses in our communities that will probably not survive. Something this large really isn't just about individuals. I haven't seen one "woe is me, I'm the only one being affected you should all feel sorry for me" post, so it's hard to fathom where the attitude is coming from.

 

[LoserMomma]

I live close to DC and I'm bracing myself for a downturn. That said, the current path is unsustainable. Federal budgets are funded from private production because the federal government does not create revenue (it assesses taxes...the revenue talk is PC for I want to take more of your money).

That said, without getting too far into the political side of this, I've always felt that the first step to getting our fiscal house in order is the need to move government agencies across the board to budget like private industry...it's called zero based budgeting and many of us who create and manage budgets have been doing this for years. Every expense is justified and you begin with no inflationary increases. You budget for negotiated salary or benefit increases, but you keep all discretionary budgeting level with the prior year unless you anticipate an increase in revenues.

Instead, the government has had a "use it or lose it" philosophy which promotes reckless spending to ensure that the next year the amount you get isn't decreased. That is just unsustainable and irresponsible budgeting.

This sequester isn't even about reducing the cash outlay of the government...there will, in point of fact, be more spending this year than last and next year than this...it's the rate of increase that it's decreasing.

I feel for anyone who will be impacted. Layoffs and furloughs suck. Perhaps we should all begin pressuring our elected officials to start budgeting smarter across the board.

 

[manning]

One way to cut. As people retire you don't replace them. Private businesses have done this for years.

 

[n2dzny]

I am a DOD employee. My husband and I re-evaluated out budget a few months ago in preparation for what was coming, (I am a "worst case scenario planner"). We began saving more back then and just recently we looked @ our budget with the reality of "what if" in mind and we made a few changes:

-We changed our tax witholding (getting back a lot this year, so it will put more in our pay check and not as much @ the end of the year)
-We restructured our "food budget" to only allow room for buying groceries & conserving our gas (to include driving to work together, doable but requires planning); no more eating out.
-We have a disney vacation planned for Dec, scored an incredible rate on a room (3 bedroom @ Bonnet Creek for $200/night) but that is prob a pipe dream
-Also, sadly we realized that we won't be able to save as much as we currently are. I really hate it and will do what I can to save (I'm not comfortable putting nothing toward savings), but we are due to have our first baby in May & so that is extra challenging.

I can see something happening in the "midnight hour" & this not being a reality. I hope that is the case. I think about the trickle-down effect, not just financially. In my office, we support the soldiers at home and abroad and I feel bad for how they will be effected (delay in getting what they need, etc). This is bad news for a lot of people.

 

[smitch425]

One way to cut. As people retire you don't replace them. Private businesses have done this for years.

So has the federal government.

 

[sasywtch]

I'm not sure why you think no one understands, and your posts are coming off as if we should not be complaining about this. I don't think that is how you mean your posts to sound, at least I hope not. Federal employees who will be furloughed WILL lose some of their benefits. They will earn reduced vacation and sick leave for that time period in addition to lost wages. Having $10,000 of your income taken away because of bad politics and government procrastination is still a hard pill to swallow despite knowing it was coming. DH's office is understaffed and under the required budgetary requirements, but they will still be furloughed. He is currently supervising 60 employees, and none of them want to work even though there is work to be done. To say that morale is low is a gross understatement. We are blessed that we have saved the money to get through this, but many of our friends will be in dire straights. The local economy will suffer in this area like nothing we have seen before. It is a very sad time in this country and unfortunately it will continue until Washington decides to do something to fix it.

Welcome to Sacramento for the last 5 years. It's not meant to me mean but we as government workers have already been going through this for 5 years. Cafes, small business' on the mall downtown have closed as government workers were furloughed or quit spending excess money. One thing we found out, no one that makes the decisions really cares and the general public may tell you they may care but most believe it's about time those "rich" government workers took a hit

Knowing that others had to go through this for the last 5 years, people really needed to reduce their spending and put some $$ in the bank.

 

[Mickey Fliers]

As a Military spouse and a mother who has three children in overseas DoD schools, I am not thrilled with the idea that my children will be going to a 4 day school week. Where are they going to make up those lost days? They aren't having longer hours. Just losing one full day of instruction per week.

Awesome.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

So has the federal government.

Exactly! My husbands office is short four or five employees right now because when someone leaves, he can't replace them. They have had a hiring freeze for over three now.

 

[disykat]

Knowing that others had to go through this for the last 5 years, people really needed to reduce their spending and put some $$ in the bank.

You really don't get it, do you? If you read through any of the furlough threads everyone who has responded has talked about having made preparation for this and being ready to make it through.

That won't change the fact that people will be reducing spending and that some communities are going to be very hard hit by this.

Whether you are prepared or not, it's going to be tough to swallow, especially after years of cuts and freezes already. I would think you, of all people, would get that.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

You really don't get it, do you? If you read through any of the furlough threads everyone who has responded has talked about having made preparation for this and being ready to make it through.

That won't change the fact that people will be reducing spending and that some communities are going to be very hard hit by this.

Whether you are prepared or not, it's going to be tough to swallow, especially after years of cuts and freezes already. I would think you, of all people, would get that.

Amen! We have cut back, done without and saved money so we should be ok but it is still going to be hard. What stinks is that we almost need to budget for a furlough every year because that's what it has been like!

 

[smitch425]

To give an example of why this will hit our area so hard, when a local auto company office shut down, about 160 employees were let go. It did have some impact on the community, but nothing noticeable. While the people on the base will not lose their jobs, we are talking about over 13,000 people that are federal employees on the base, not including outside contractors and support staff, that will take a huge pay cut for half of a year. I suspect the first businesses to feel the hit will be the restaurants surrounding the base. Unless Washington decides to something to fix the problem instead of trying to repeatedly put a bandaid on it, we will face these same issues for years to come.

 

[Tiggeroo]

Some examples
http://http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/02/25/us/girding-spending-cuts-sequestration.html?ref=us&hp#/#parks

 

[wvjules]

We got an email that states:

"On Wednesday, DoD provided Congress notification that, should furlough actions prove to be necessary, we will implement a 176 hour/22 discontinuous day furlough beginning in late April 2013. National unions were also notified. After careful consideration and discussions with the sequestration planning workgroup, I have directed the following action: "all civilian employees will participate in a furlough one day a week through the end of the current fiscal year".

.....


Although Congress and National Unions were notified that furloughs would be begin in late April 2013, a firm effective date has not been established. You will receive additional guidance on a firm effective date through MEDCOM G1 channels, as well as additional labor relations guidance.

.....

Our Command has been really good about keeping everyone in the loop as much as possible throughout all of these budget issues, including this possible upcoming furlough.

ETA: This message was sent as Unclassified from the Surgeon General's Office.