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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think people idealise the private sector as more efficient, when it’s just as subject to egos and mismanagement as the public sector?

52 replies

MyAmusedOpalCrab · 25/07/2025 14:07

I often see the private sector being held up as the gold standard for efficiency, cost-effectiveness and good management, while the public sector is dismissed as bloated, bureaucratic and wasteful. But in my experience, the private sector can be just as bad, if not worse, when it comes to incompetence, office politics and poor leadership.

I’ve worked in both sectors and I’ve seen shocking mismanagement, inflated salaries for ineffective leadership and decision-making driven more by personal agendas than actual efficiency. At least in the public sector there’s usually some level of transparency and accountability, whereas in private companies, things can be just as dysfunctional but hidden behind a polished image.

AIBU to think that people overestimate how well the private sector functions or is my experience just unlucky?

OP posts:
Cinaferna · 25/07/2025 14:20

I've seen spectacular levels on incompetence and croneyism in the private sector. In the public sector, where I work freelance on a regular basis, I am staggered by the number of middle managers who appear to do nothing all day while a handful of others work 100 hour weeks. In my sector two managers do all the work, and are spectacular at their jobs, and the rest (there are too many) just loaf around and occasionally meddle to make a mark. It put me off applying for permanent work as I know I'd get sucked into being one of the 100-hour-a-week crew simply because I'd want things to actually happen.

AnPiscin · 25/07/2025 14:08

I've worked with both and I agree both can be shockingly bad. The public sector tends to have a special level of nonsense though, usually because they're answerable to a minister or some aspect of government which makes them particularly bureaucratic and slow moving.

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