I'm retired from the Navy but spent several tours of duty at a government agency that was about 80% civilian/20% military. After I retired, I worked as a contractor (with two separate companies) on projects for that agency for a few years. For what they're worth, here are my observations:
- there were many hard-working, smart, dedicated civilians working at this agency. They could have made more money "on the outside" but were dedicated to the agency's mission and its role in our country's security.
- there were also many drones who were just there for the paycheck and the benefits.
- the majority probably fell somewhere in the middle.
- I made more money as a contractor than I probably would have in a comparable civilian job with that agency. But, as a contractor I:
-- got less vacation;
-- had no pension plan (with one company) and a less generous pension plan (with another company.) I never worked long enough as a contractor to earn a pension.
-- got a 401K match. (But I never worked long enough to get vested).
-- had to do about as much uncompensated work as the more dedicated gov't employees did.
I found that a lot of civilian employees at this agency would work there until they were eligible for retirement, take their gov't pensions and then go to work for the contractors supporting this agency for 5 - 10 years before really retiring. Not unlike what a lot of military folk do, except that military people are generally about 10 years younger when they hit the first retirement point.
- there were many hard-working, smart, dedicated civilians working at this agency. They could have made more money "on the outside" but were dedicated to the agency's mission and its role in our country's security.
- there were also many drones who were just there for the paycheck and the benefits.
- the majority probably fell somewhere in the middle.
- I made more money as a contractor than I probably would have in a comparable civilian job with that agency. But, as a contractor I:
-- got less vacation;
-- had no pension plan (with one company) and a less generous pension plan (with another company.) I never worked long enough as a contractor to earn a pension.
-- got a 401K match. (But I never worked long enough to get vested).
-- had to do about as much uncompensated work as the more dedicated gov't employees did.
I found that a lot of civilian employees at this agency would work there until they were eligible for retirement, take their gov't pensions and then go to work for the contractors supporting this agency for 5 - 10 years before really retiring. Not unlike what a lot of military folk do, except that military people are generally about 10 years younger when they hit the first retirement point.