Government vs private sector employees - an observation
This place could really use a "Pondering" or something like that as a selection because this really doesn't fit "General Update" or "Educational" or any of the others. Oh, well. Square peg into the triangular hole. Yesterday my Beloved called Medicare concerning her mother and what we needed to do to get things improved or changed or get her moved or whatever. Basically, she called and said "Here's the situation, what's my best course of action?" The call lasted about an hour and she got a ton of very useful information. Way more than we've received from all other sources to date. The person she spoke with was polite, compassionate, knowledgeable, patient, and very helpful. From him there was no rushing through, no annoyance at the endless questions; nothing but a desire and apparent pleasure at being able to be in service to her in the solution of her problems and challenges. That brought up something I've been noticing over the past some number of years. There is a shifting, a swapping of places, between employees of the government and private sector. I'm fixing to make broad, sweeping generalities based on personal observation and experience. I have no intent or desire to insult or disparage any individuals. Please don't anyone take anything said here personally. Once upon a time, say up to about 5 - 10 years ago, the private sector paid way better than the government (specifically federal, but others are included). The private sector got the best workers and those who the private sector didn't want went to work for the government. As a result, government employees were generally lazy, unmotivated, ignorant (not stupid), ill trained, and difficult to deal with. Private sector employees were sharp, on the ball, knowlegable, and helpful. This was my experience with those of each class I had to deal with. Then a shifting began. For a while it seemed there was no difference. The quality of government employees improved while those in the private sector declined. It was pretty much a crap shoot as to what type of person you'd encounter when dealing with either entity. Now it seems the scales have tipped in favor of the government. My Beloved's experience the past few days is only one example of that. I've also experienced improvements in the Social Security Administration, the IRS, and my state's Department of Revenue and Motor Vehicle Division. In the private sector, though, I've encountered tech support people who are not at all technical nor supportive, customer service people who provide no service at all, order takers that cannot get the order right (how can the spoken word "two" be mistaken for "seven"?), and product engineers who know less about their product than I, the customer. There are also business managers and owners who don't worry about individual customers, knowing that the masses will compensate for the occasional loss of a few. I must say, though, that the bulk of my negative experiences with the private sector has been with major, huge corporations, not the mom and pop companies. The small and locally owned companies, even in this metro area, still provide good service in general. Just thought that was interesting.
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