A Reader Describes the Realities of Work as a Defense Contractor

Onsite observations of civil servants and their contractors I found what I believe to be averages:

25% hard workers and people of integrity like are found everywhere

50% that are average to below average

25% that are useless as in not working at all and visiting with their friends who are doing the same. There are also certain protected categories who know they are protected and act accordingly. Use your imagination here.

One facility I was at had a building of several thousand people that had a beautiful food court. One fine day I noticed there were morbidly obese workers that rode their scooters to the court at 10 AM for a mid-morning break. This was so disconcerting I avoided ever going there after this.

Clearly many civil servants get paid more than they are worth. They also get better benefit packages on average. I was stunned, as I hope President Trump is, to learn that cash bonuses are now part of our ‘servants’ compensation. This is so wrong as to deny reality in my opinion.

Cognitive dissonance sets in when you observe something seriously contravening your normal expectations. I left defense because of this dissonance.

I would counsel DOGE the following:

When young you may have knowledge and passion but no wisdom. When old you have knowledge and wisdom but no passion. Wisdom trumps passion (no pun intended).

The Trump/Musk junta are, in my opinion as a manager of many years, making a mistake in downsizing. People are the same everywhere as the human nature has not changed in the most recent 10,000 years of civilization. The requested advance resignation package is a mistake for several reasons: knowing a really bad outcome (quitting job) is looming prevents meaningful efforts, this outcome will lead to lots of complaints between friends and a sympathetic media. In giving what is in essence a six month plus paid vacation in place leaves open the option to have some judge/court restore your position in the future. Finally, this leaves open the possibility of revenge scheming and action.

Instead Trump should give federal employees one year’s pay in a lump sum in return for a resignation in a mutually agreed upon confidential termination with the signing of a non-disclosure agreement. It must be in writing that “your job is going away by ‘X’ date at that point you are terminated.”

Management almost always know who the slackers are but most managers lack the power to do anything about it. The terms should be simple if the manager does not comply in drawing up the offer list that manager should be offered the package.