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?

@Hairymunter yep....that all makes perfect sense 😂😂😂😂

@Ted27 I actually remember one of the mums at my daughter's primary school vaguely mumbled "I work in admin" once when someone asked what she did.
I'm very curious now .......😂🤔

No, it's either I can't be arsed listening to you giving me grief about something I have no control of or I'm on a night out I'm not explaining why you have a K code and therefore pay more tax when you have a company car.

It's the pension and job security and clarity about career pathways

@Hairymunter I suppose that does make sense. Small talk around jobs is quite dull anyway 🙂

@Needmorelego

Definitely a spy 🤣

As someone who works in big tech which is notoriously fast and intense, my perception is that civil service is a cushy job - decent pay, pensions, progression, respect but all a bit relaxed and “coast-y” compared to high paying jobs in private industries
maybe im wrong but basically in my world people talk about going there for easy life

Lol. Working only till 5 IS cushy.
most city jobs/big tech/startups are just not 9-5 jobs

I was surprised they have to work Saturdays! Certainly the ones I know do😱

If you look at the gender stats it's a good place to work as a woman. Women are far more represented in senior civil service roles than most private sector organisations. Mostly because of their opportunities for flexible working (Flexi, part time, term time, job shares).

It's also a job with purpose. All jobs in the civil service contribute to that function. You see the results of your work, even in the lowest admin grades, on the news, see it reflected in policy etc. It feels part of something.

@DodoTired I've worked with a fair few ex private sector tech folk due to the cross over in my own profession. I think it's fair to say they've made the move for an easier life as you say, although not to coast, but usually because their circumstances have changed and they need a better work life balance, lots of new-ish parents in our tech teams in my department! I think they'd all disagree with good pay, most accept they are trading salary for work life balance. But also, they seem to really enjoy the work and the value it brings as opposed to profits.

I did a project for a government department as an IT consultant (part of a team). Never again. It was absolutely horrible, the managers were some of the foulest I have encountered in my career, and I have seen the ins and outs of a lot of IT departments. The politics was like something out of Yes Minister.

I actually ended up hospitalised whilst I was working for them, and I partially blame it on the pure stress they put me through.

A hedge fund is a way to pool money from advanced/experienced investors (i.e. institutional investors such as pension companies, or high net worth individuals etc - not Joe Bloggs with £500) to invest in companies according to a specific "strategy" which they hope will give them consistently high returns, higher than just sticking it in a bank account. Usually but not always these days, the goal is also to "hedge" against risk, so your strategy is set up so that overall you don't lose money even when the market is down.

The strategies can be very technical, but it just refers to which companies you buy and sell at what times and in response to what events. You can also bet against stocks, so that you make money if they fall in price rather than rise. You can take in automated data feeds and have algorithms do your trades for you, or you could do boots on the ground research to give yourself an edge, anything you like really.

A hedge fund manager will have targets on how much risk to take and desired return. He (pretty much always he) spends his days talking with his team about how to design the strategy/algorithm, discussing changes to make it more accurate, looking at reports from the last few years about the fund performance, talking personally to investors, etc. Probably not actually clicking buttons or getting on the phone to make the individual trades, as that would be more junior, but people in the office would be doing that.

They start the day early, before the markets open so they can discuss their strategy for the day. The vibe is somewhere between investment banking and a tech startup - intense, quite collaborative but direct and challenging, lots of data, looking at screens, that kind of thing.

As a civil service employee, when I joined 7 years ago a majority of the benefits were a novelty and the salary was very good for our area. It's also very safe in terms of it's almost impossible to be fired or let go, unless you seriously fuck up.
Nowadays, yes Flexi is offered, annual leave is much the same although I still get more than I've seen elsewhere (32 plus BH), but for me it's the enhanced mat pay (hard to find anything comparable round me), subsidised nursery on site (half the price of anything in the area, great standard, and paid out of salary before tax so even cheaper), my role is bizarrely about 7-8k over market average although many other roles are probably on less and we have subsidised onsite benefits (cheap but good canteen and a £60 a year gym that's just been renovated and isn't too bad!).
So all those things keep me at least for the next few years.
Cons though - progressing is nigh on impossible, I've had incremental pay increases (about 5k in 7 years just from the budgets etc so it's across the board), there's a big disparity in certain roles which has felt divisive, you can't even easily move within your band so whatever salary you come in on is the salary you likely stay with until you apply for another role. In 7 years I've known a handful of people to move up a band after a gruelling process and after having done the work of a higher band for years. Bonuses are more back dated pay awards or nominations for good work, in the hundreds not thousands but this doesn't bother me all that much tbh. Getting anything done or approved is a slog, red tape everywhere, systems are a bit archaic but im used to it. I'm lucky that I have a great team and section, others not so I would imagine!

So on balance for me, I am far better off in the civil service than not.

Recently started in the CS. The training was 'thorough' (4 intensive months with dedicated trainers and helpers), pension contributions are high, flexi-time is brilliant (work anytime between 6am and 8 or 10pm), free parking, WFH 40%, take the afternoon off if it's sunny, lots of support.

So, yes, lots of pros (and there are cons with every job).

A few pros that I haven't seen in the thread yet, but one might argue could be just as important as the pension etc. For me it's working with some of the greatest minds in the country; I'm inspired daily by the intellect of those that I work with. I also love being challenged; I'm presented with complex issues that need to be solved, and then you see the policy being created and implemented which is very rewarding. I also love being a part of the mechanisms of Government and being in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Whitehall; it makes it so very exciting and interesting. I love the pace of the work; things can change quickly, and you can spend time developing a policy, only for something to happen and it has to change direction, it's very interesting. I love how valued I feel; I came into the CS thinking that I didn't deserve my place there as I don't come from an English background nor did I go to a prestigeous University, however, I am respected and my ideas are valued which helps to build my confidence

@DodoTired

I suppose it depends what you mean by 'cushy'
Prison officers are civil servants who work defined shifts. I wouldn't describe their job as cushy.
That's the problem with just lumping 400,000 people's work into a blob called the 'civil service'
I also personally don't understand why working all the hours god sends is seen as superior or better in some way than people who come in, work hard and go home.
Having said that, when I took redundancy in 2004, for a bit of a laugh I did a very rough calculation of all the unpaid overtime I'd done in the previous 10 years. The redundancy payment, which was generous, didn't cover it.
Many many civil servants work very long hours for little recognition.

My DH definitely has a real sense of pride in his work. He works really hard and when papers he writes go onto gov.uk or his reports are quoted in the news etc. he is proud (rightfully so).

Not really, I'm in Ireland and it's actually quite difficult to get into the civil service now with so many applying, I have a job for life, can't get let go, big pension, work 3 days, have term time in summer, have day and a half flexi each month, paid sick leave, yea lots of perks in civil service, having said that I'm 20 plus years in so perks are different now but I get to keep mine.

I once had the piss taken out of me in Private Eye after minutes from a meeting were leaked. Proudest moment of my career.

This gets sent to me regularly, it is funny though, not true but funny

What is the pension in the civil service? I get 21% employer - is it better than that?

What is the pension in the civil service? I get 21% employer - is it better than that?

On paper they say it's 27% but it doesn't really work like that anyway, there isn't a pot, it's more like a subscription service. You get it paid for life when entitled, it is safe. And our pension contributions are low by comparison. It's one of the best out of the public sector pensions.

‘Profit’ such a dirty word.
without those profits we wouldn't have much of a civil service either.

Amte works in an organisation hat is not technically civil service but public sector. Final salary pension they pay around 33% and he pays 5% so total of 38%. But final salary is different though but in % terms that's what it is.