Relax, Everything is Going to be Okay!

[INMT]

It's business. When times are tough, budgets get cut. That's how they stay in business.

FIFY

IT’s business. When times are tough, C suite execs still want their bonus. That’s how they keep their yachts.

 

[Borny1]

Because key jobs weren't identified, not so key jobs either.

The criteria was probationary employees...that's it.

Zero thought...

That's not indiscriminate. Those are the employees with the least amount invested in them and the easiliest to replace. You want them to fire a 15 year employee who has been trained and experience? No way. You are able to truly able to identify key jobs when key roles aren't filled. I think a key job at my place of employment is the guy that maintains the cocoa machine. When they fired that dude, moral went to shit. So, now we get Swiss Miss packs. Probably a sound business move on my employers part.

 

[SAJ-99]

Yesterday. Trump speaking on tariffs and USMCA, which he signed in 2020.

“I look at some of these agreements, I’d read them at night, and I’d say, ‘Who would ever sign a thing like this?’ So the tariffs will go forward, yes, and we’re gonna make up a lot of territory. All we want is reciprocal. We want reciprocity.”

WTF.

 

[Hem]

I just want to know who are all the crybabies badgering the moderators with reports. Greenhorn has a very apt description of those persons.

 

[BuzzH]

That's not indiscriminate. Those are the employees with the least amount invested in them and the easiliest to replace. You want them to fire a 15 year employee who has been trained and experience? No way. You are able to truly able to identify key jobs when key roles aren't filled. I think a key job at my place of employment is the guy that maintains the cocoa machine. When they fired that dude, moral went to shit. So, now we get Swiss Miss packs. Probably a sound business move on my employers part.

It was indiscriminate and likely illegal.

By freezing hiring, the administration could have cut the work force by 24% in 4 years just through attrition.

They could likely get even more to retire with VERA and VSIP.

That makes sense, but doesn't divide people further or feed red meat to the base.

 

[daberry95]

Many of you are worried about our public lands in the wake of the workforce downsizing. Like you, I treasure our National Forests, National Parks and BLM lands. My heart truly goes out to those who lost their jobs. It's never easy. It happens regularly in the private sector, but it's rare to see government get smaller, so I understand the worry.

My name is Paul Barnard (spell the screen name backwards.) I live in Metairie LA for now. I just retired after working for the CG for almost 40 years. 20 active-duty and nearly 20 as a civilian. During that time I have partnered with a myriad of government agencies and have had a glimpse into how many operate. Let's just say that they share many similarities with the Coast Guard. I have to do a little drift to set the stage for what follows.

Early in my active duty career, it was normal for 2 of us to hop on a small boat and patrol 20-30 miles offshore. Our small boats back then didn't even have radar or GPS. Service wide, there were no major mishaps operating under such conditions. Government agencies tend to become more risk adverse over time. Standards today will find the small boats restricted to 10 miles offshore. The'll have a comprehensive compliment of safety equipment and electronics, and they'll likely have 4 people on board. They'll run 1/3 the SAR cases we did, they write far fewer BUIs, they'll write almost no federal fisheries tickets and they'll make far fewer law enforcement stops. All of this is verifiable. It's not opinion. Twice the people on the boats, less than half the production. I say that to say that agencies can review their SOPs to identify ways to achieve greater efficiency.

Beginning in about 2018 the Coast Guard started falling behind on recruiting. At our operational units, we were down 40%. To this date, we remain down about 25% on qualified personnel even though recruiting is back up to speed. The Coast Guard cut back on patrols and law enforcement activities. Some stations were closed and others had their personnel allowance formally reduced. Toss out the Covid induced spike in recreational boating deaths, and we saw a steady fall in the number of recreational boating deaths. 2023 was the lowest in decades. FWIW my program was Recreational Boating Safety. So despite the fact, that we had fewer people, engaging the public less frequently, deaths on the water went down substantially.

You may be wondering what the hell this has to do with our public lands. Well, there will be some bumps initially, but ultimately any government agency I have ever worked with could easily absorb a 10-20% loss in personnel without a degradation in service to the public. Through smarter and perhaps harder work, the mission will be accomplished. Many agencies spend an inordinate amount of time serving internal rather than external (public) customers. Bureaucratic crap that can and should be done away with. BS mandatory training. Ask and 90% of government employees would happily tell you that there are worthless employees in their unit. The same 90% will be able to tell you the people who have cake jobs in their agencies and they'll tell you that there are units or teams that could be done away with completely. It would be nice if the workforce reduction could have targeted such personnel, but as many of you know, it can be hard to fire even poor performing .gov employees. Unfortunately in order to downsize quickly, it had to be probationary employees who are often some of the most motivated.

Fearing change and fearing the unknown is normal. I have seen several RIFS in my career and have been furloughed. Good people who are good employees will always land on their feet. Don't panic, don't worry. A year or two from now, you'll see that things are back to or better than normal. I don't expect the Refuges, National Forests or National Parks that I visit too be impacted to any significant degree at all.

Hopefully they’ll get the fat trimmed off. Good read. Thank you for your service.

 

[jimh406]

What kind of business acumen is that?

Well, it's not a business. It's the government.

Assuming you are ok with cutting, just pick a method and go. If you aren't ok with cutting, that's fine. Most of us know that most of the people who were fired unexpectedly are happier in their new position/career.

As OP said, it will be ok.

 

[Wild Bill]

Most of us know that most of the people who were fired unexpectedly are happier in their new position/career.

If that is truly how you feel, may the Lord above or whoever you bow down to bless you and yours with such hospitality a grace.

The golden rule.

Business or not, there should be decency.

 

[Wildabeest]

Instead of demanding that my newest employee justify his existence by sending me a list of 5 things he did last week, I had he and his wife over for dinner. Red meat sampler (beef filet, venison blackstrap and Japanese A5 Wagyu ribeye) with tortellini in pesto sauce, steamed broccoli and salad. Tiramisu for dessert. I’ve found that treating people with respect and letting them know you care about them is a far superior way to maximize performance. YMMV.

 

[rjthehunter]

Instead of demanding that my newest employee justify his existence by sending me a list of 5 things he did last week, I had he and his wife over for dinner. Red meat sampler (beef filet, venison blackstrap and Japanese A5 Wagyu ribeye) with tortellini in pesto sauce, steamed broccoli and salad. Tiramisu for dessert. I’ve found that treating people with respect and letting them know you care about them is a far superior way to maximize performance. YMMV.

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Without a doubt, a boss I'd love to work for!

Big scale gov is tougher though!

Might need to post up if you're hiring! Could be some people looking for jobs in your neck of the woods!

I feel inadequate, i took the newest employee out to lunch at a nice BBQ place. But I'm not a chef, so he should be happy with where he ended up

 

[Wild Bill]

Instead of demanding that my newest employee justify his existence by sending me a list of 5 things he did last week, I had he and his wife over for dinner. Red meat sampler (beef filet, venison blackstrap and Japanese A5 Wagyu ribeye) with tortellini in pesto sauce, steamed broccoli and salad. Tiramisu for dessert. I’ve found that treating people with respect and letting them know you care about them is a far superior way to maximize performance. YMMV.

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You idiot! You’re supposed to can them!

Slide that platter of meat this way while you draft that termination email.

 

[BuzzH]

Instead of demanding that my newest employee justify his existence by sending me a list of 5 things he did last week, I had he and his wife over for dinner. Red meat sampler (beef filet, venison blackstrap and Japanese A5 Wagyu ribeye) with tortellini in pesto sauce, steamed broccoli and salad. Tiramisu for dessert. I’ve found that treating people with respect and letting them know you care about them is a far superior way to maximize performance. YMMV.

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Should have cut that steak with a chainsaw while wearing a pair of goofy fuggin' sunglasses.