To wonder why the Civil Service is so worshipped?

[Babysonfire12345]

I definitely understand that the pension is one of the best out there.
However, flexi is offered elsewhere, WFH is offered elsewhere. I can't think of a single other benefit.
It's not even necessarily a 'job for life', there are redundancies. Pay is really low for AO-HEO grades for what is expected.
I don't see the appeal of it except for the pension, what am I missing?

Advantages : often a pretty age blind employer. They don't act like you are too old to train at any age. As well as all the sickness, maternity, paternity, adoption leave. For my disabled colleagues they really try to accommodate and make working possible.
I know there are some people who "coast" but a lot of people work incredibly hard and pull off minor miracles on a much smaller budget than the private sector.

What exactly does a civil servant do?

I didn't look to join public sector company but did after being made redundant by a private company and only 6 weeks to get job as redundancy was naff all.

Free travel, final salary pension, discounted national rail, flexible working and so on. I feel better protected from redundancy, sure they still happen but it's not as easy or quick. The pay isn't quite where private sector is but it's offsetting by my benefits.

However its not the benefits that keep me there its the work. Project managing changes to streets and roads to maintenance on bridges. I leant so much about how our streets are designed, the politics that influence what we do etc. Plus I get to leave a lil mark on London.

I generally do my hours and not stressed out. Don't feel like I'm just some number.

Ha true, worshiping it perhaps not! However it is definitely my ideal job in terms of what I was looking for with work life balance, job with meaning etc

It depends. Some provide direct support to gov and opposition. Politicians come up with ideas and civil servants enact. For example the budget- Rachel Reeves will tell the Civil Service to produce options for reducing expenditure by X billion focusing on not increasing the tax rate and civil servants will produce options for her to pick from.

Others run things like DVLA and HRMC, administration of benefits, job centres etc are all civil servants.

MI5 are civil servants.

That's just a few examples.

Well this is exactly it. Sweeping statements about the civil service are a bit daft really. There are around half a million civil servants in something like 450 different departments. The idea that every single one of them has the same work ethic (or lack of) is clearly crazy.
I think whether they are a desirable employer also depends hugely on what area of work you're in and what area of the country too. I doubt the salary looks competitive if you're in IT or living in London. Where I live the salary is pretty competitive actually.

Don't know about now, but it used to be next to impossible to get sacked in the civil service, so it's a great place to work if you are a talentless jobsworth.

If you were really awful, you just got shunted off into another department, plus you get a pension that far exceeds any contribution to the country you might like to think you make.

I was 59 when I started in the Civil Service after the first Covid year disappeared. I don't think I would have many interviews in the private sector for jobs of similar calibre. There is a lot to like about it and it's very competitive to get in. The work is tough at times and we get slagged off a lot by people who don't seem to understand that it's the government making the rules not us.

@myslippersarepink

The civil service encompasses a huge range of functions so there is a corresponding huge variety of roles
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations
In my last few years my roles covered teacher regulation, Brexit, Covid, RACC, in the past I've managed private offices, been a speech writer, events organiser, manages a complaints system, set up regional offices, managed a redundancy programme, recruited 250 people to a new function, to name a few.

I think it is still pretty much a job for life if you want it to be. I've been made redundant twice, both times it was voluntary. I've never known there to be a redundancy programme where there wasn't enough volunteers

Work life balance, pension, job security, paid maternity. That’s why I’m in the civil service. I worked much longer hours in private, now I can work from home and see my kids. Less money, but worth it.

Salaries are absymal in senior roles. Absolutely awful. Heating engineers earn more than most "senior" civil servants eg those at grade 5 level.

I think that last bit is key - a lot of other places have now caught up with the work/life balance but 10, 15 years ago the flexitime, ability to wfh, maternity/sickness policies etc. offered in the civil service were pretty rare.

Also all the staff networks for sexual orientation, disabilities, mental health, women etc. that anyone can join. The CS has the reputation of being equal ops/fair. If you were out and gay 20, 30 years ago people felt safer from discrimination than they would in most other orgs. Again, something that has caught up since. Often encourage joining unions too, which some employers don't.

Pension is still probably the best thing but most people don't realise that hundreds of other bodies and companies (ombudsman and adjudicator type schemes, museums, galleries, etc) also offer access to the CS pension.

I have always wondered this?
I really have no clue what someone does if they say they work for "The Civil Service".
I think it's something to do with working for the government but I really am not sure.

@Ted27 so who exactly is your employer?
You say you've worked at all those different things -but doing what exactly?

I've been a civil servant for 10+ years and have worked my way up in that time - my salary has more than doubled.

I do get to work from home although there is MUCH more pressure to attend offices recently, without much benefit to my role which is unfortunate as it's one of the only perks.

The hours are, however, generally flexible and I therefore get to compress to 4 day week.

The service is heavily dependent (in my department at least) on the good will of its employees.

If you don't love what you do and why you do it, it's not right for you.

I'm getting to the point where I'm loving it less, and the stress of competing demands and doing more with less, and subsequently the dependency on good will are overtaking my commitment to public service, so I may choose to move on in the next year.

@StartingOverIn2025 but what do you actually "do" ?

I think it's something to do with working for the government but I really am not sure.

Yes it's just working for a government organisation be that directly for the Crown like one of the big departments eg HMRC, or potentially an arms length body still overseen by government. A civil servant put very simply (a bit overly) is a government worker, within that you could do anything from being an admin assistant up to a permanent secretary, government organisations have all your usual departments so we have lawyers, HR specialists etc who have a profession but are still civil servants, through to roles that are more government focussed like policy. But really, it just tells you who their employer is, not much else.

I moved in after a career in academia which I’d become disillusioned with. I wanted better work life balance, something new, learn stuff again.

got a CS job at a fairly junior level. My first week my line manager asked what was my ideal role, and colleagues were sending job ads related to my academic field.

if I see a job or an area I’d like, all I need to do is phone up and ask to shadow. My line manager asked will arrange training courses I need if I decide to move.

”career” and moving around different jobs is very much encouraged. Senior staff will offer to mock interview, check your applications etc.

after being stuck with no way to move sideways or upwards it’s a refreshing change to not only be making these moves, but to be totally supported in doing so.

add to that the organisation is huge and you can pretty much do anything from vehicle repair to managing huge information gathering dept.

I can't tell you that or I'd have to kill you, hope that helps 😂

It's a bit too niche to not be 'outing' but basically enacting government policy, on behalf of the government on a regional basis.

Not sure I agree with you. It’s all relative of course but SCS roles start at around £70k per annum ( depts vary) which I wouldn’t say is abysmal. Depends what your accountabilities are though

@StartingOverIn2025 ok.....you don't have to tell me 😂
But it still leaves me clueless in general about what a Civil Service job actually is.

I’m also CS but I presume you’re talking about policy delivery through the legislative process?

See that's what I mean. Vague random words 😂😂😂

I’m a civil servant and I do very little for what I feel is very good money! I’m at Grade 7.

I don’t think it’s a good place to work though, very bureaucratic and stifling.

It’s understandable that those working in this gig would want to justify it and protect their reputation. But how do you explain that civil service productivity has lagged private sector productivity by a factor of 6. And the private sector in this country has been abysmal since nu Labour days in 1997. So what does that say about the civil service.

How do you explain that it’s impossible to fire crap performers in civil service. How do you explain the astronomical levels of absence and piss taking. How do you explain that the civil service is failing at everything in this country. Literally, everything. There isn’t one area that can be considered a success.

Reply after reply on this thread confirming how it’s just busy work. Nothing like as challenging as productive work would be.