Private or Public Sector?

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Well as the title reads, where would you prefer to work and be employed if you had the choice to decide or choose?.

I take it the private sector is more focus in terms of profit oriented and the public or government sector is not so much about profit but service oriented.

Long story short which would you like to be employed by? Private or Public sector.

To be honest a job is a job but from my experience the public sector is full of red tapes and politics not to say this doesnt happen in the private sector but maybe not a much as compared to the public sector

What's your take and possibly reasons, i.e. professionalism, career enhancements and satisfaction etc. Thanks in advance for sharing.

 

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In this current economic situation, I would most certainly choose the public sector. The main reasoning being job security especially if you had certain commitments such as a family, mortgage and other financial commitments. The public sector is full of redtape and can be just as ruthless as the private sector depending on the politics and corporate culture of the environment. There is less chance of career development in my public sector role but others may say differently. Satisifaction may come down to doing generally 'good' for the community...

As I currently work in the public sector, I feel safe compared to my private sector counterparts. However, for the equivalent role in the private sector, they get paid 4/5 k more than myself.

 

I'd have to agree.

The private sector may give you more in the way of opportunity, flexibility and cash - but job security isn't going to be great at the moment. Depending on the size and setup of the company, you could also miss out on some benefits such as pensions and healthcare.

Public sector is probably more secure, but you will be throttled by red tape. But if you're the sort of person who likes to be able to tell the HR department that someone has been using your milk and expect a thorough investigation to be carried out and documented - then this could be the place for you.

Choice would be a fine thing, but if either offers you a job then I guess this wouldn't really come into the argument.

 

Public sector is not as secure as people seem to think. It may have been in the past, but as a consequence you'd tend to find salaries were lower than in the private sector; however, it has changed over the past couple of years.

In addition, Local Government public sector has never to my knowledge been that secure anyway, having several ex-colleagues, friends and family who have worked within it.

 

Yep im local government as well I dont feel any safer than anybody else at the moment. LG and other public sector bodies are being asked more than ever to provide more services for less money red tape and all (this year we have to save in the order of £1.5m whilst extending services) . So the axe above our heads looks just as shiny and sharp as those in the private sector.

 

Rightly, put couldn't have said it any better as am in a similar position in the public sector. True as the saying goes the grass isn't always greener on the other side

 

Private sector, absolutely. The public sector might be more secure, but to be frank, those who know what they're doing don't need the artificial security provided by the public sector. In fact, doing so can actually throttle your career; in the public sector, mediocrity is tolerated, and those who do well are promoted along with those who don't, and only then because they've reached a certain amount of time in service.

 

However given the current economic climate, even those with excellent skills and knowledge are being kicked to the kerbside.

 

Actually, that's not been what I've seen here in the States. Those with excellent skills who provide value to their employer - are NOT the ones being kicked to the curb. Only those knowledgeable folks who are horribly overpaid or grossly undermotivated to work are those who are losing their jobs.

 

That may be how it works in the USA; however, the reason I continue to work in the Public Sector is because I actually enjoy the work, even though I may moan like buggery about it. I would even go so far as to say I am good at what I do.

I would add that the reason I have not been promoted (recently) is due in no small part because we are losing people/posts. It is a simple fact of life that even in the Public Sector, budgets are being cut and jobs are under review.

 

Tru dat.

As someone who has spent extensive time in both sectors (as well as in the oft-overlooked, but distinctly separate 'private sector providing services TO the public sector' category) I can state with absolute impunity that I do more in the private sector with the first day of my week then I did with the whole week when in the public sector. Although it is obviously a vast generalisation to say this, I worked with more lazy, clueless, piss-taking bastards in the public sector than I thought was humanly possible. They exist in the private sector too (largely due to nepotism), but not so much in IT - where it doesn't really matter whose nephew you are if the mail server goes tits up and you can't fix it.

Also, as other posters have alliterated to above, the 'security' aspect of the public sector is a myth. It might have been true ten years ago, but nowadays, you can be punted on in a reord in the public sector just as quick as you can get downsized in the private sector.

 

Interesting as its good to hear from people that have worked in both sectors and the views. Well nepotism is quite large in the public sector too but is being looked at closely and being discouraged

Well, the bottom line is that no sector is superior to the other as if both sectors have a decent manager in place then lazy people would be often brought to question. Sadly, this is hugely lacking in the public sector seriously well from my own experience that is to say the least.

 

Unfortunately, in this current economic climate that doesn't count for much as both sectors are trying to reduce cost at all cost. I think where I was gearing my thoughts towards was more staff productivity in both of these two sectors and not so much job security.

 

WOW look at the size of that brush that we are all being tarred with, way to go BM, might well be why people dont post Tech posts anymore! I'm sure there are plenty of people in private sector riding the waves as well cause they are buddies with the CO or some such nonsense. Public sector in not the old boys network everyone seems to think it is.

 

First up, you've got your sayings mixed up. Nobody thinks the Public Sector is an 'old boys' network'. That's the private sector.

Like I posted above, there are people in the private sector who have jobs because they know the CEO (I guess that's what you meant by 'CO'?) but there aren't that many of them in IT, because when the **** hits the fan, if you can't do your job - you get the pump, and no amount of friends in high places will save you if you f*** things up without being able to fix them and lose the company money.

Having worked in the public sector on and off for fifteen years, in plenty of positions (including, but not limited to IT roles) I can state that there is a much, much higher proportion of piss-takers than in the private sector. I'm not saying everyone who works in the Public Sector is an idle workshy git - just that fifteen years of experience has told me that you're far more likely to encounter them there than in the private sector.

 

I can strongly relate and confirm your experience as I too have only been in the public sector for just slightly over four years and have seen more lazy sods here. Well, thats not to say there arent some good workers as I have seen these type of workers too in the public sector.

Sadly, have seem more jockers in the public sector and don't necessarily think this would go down well if it was the private sector. Thanks for sharing as I have come to my conclusion that is there is more peace takers in the public sector than there is in the private sector.

Nuff said

 

"We"? I was tarring nobody here; I was tarring the system. There are certainly good people who work in and have worked in the public sector (both Zeb and I), but the point still stands: good people usually get promoted at the same rate as mediocre people.

 

Yes me too, however I do prefer the feeling that I'm actually making a difference to the community in some small way rather than making someone higher up the chain money.