Leaving the Civil Service! What can I do next?

[Corilee2806]

Just that really - leaving after 10 years because I can’t manage the 60% with a 2 hour commute and young children, am part time and have had very little support (in fact the opposite really, feels a lot like being managed out). Have been very stressed and a lot going on with the kids and it’s all just too much.

A bit scary leaving with nothing to go to but what can I do next? My obvious thoughts are local government so keeping an eye on all those kinds of roles in my area but I’d be interested to know what other ex civil servants have done (coming from a central department, mix of comms and policy type roles) and that there is life after the CS!

I need flexibility until my youngest starts school next year then will be able to work a few more hours hopefully (I currently do 24). And in the Herts area in terms of employers!

Are you sure they might not relax the 60% with the new government? Do they know you’re going to leave because of it? Are there not jobs in other departments you can go for or even one that might be fully wfh?
im fairly new to civil service (work in a regional centre) and am finding them a supportive and flexible employer having worked in local government previously but of course it varies massively

Some roles in schools would be suitable, and would be a bit more flexible with hours and family life too.

Is there any amount of office working you can manage? Some depts are only on 40% due to physical space restrictions. Could you do a sideways move into one of those?

I won’t go into detail but my department is being extremely heavy handed on it and the way they’ve engaged with me over attempts to get exemptions and reasonable adjustments have been appalling. There’s a lot of history but I’ve had enough. They could well relax it in a few months but it’s so much more than that. I only handed in my notice on thurs so I will see what senior management say when they find out but there’s little they could do to persuade me at this stage!

I know it’s a lot to walk away from but I feel ready to see what else is out there (also to add my husband earns well so a bit of time to find the right thing)

What is your role op? Have you considered the nhs? In my trust there is a lot of home working, and in any case you could find something more local.

Can you not apply for different roles within the Civil Service? Think of the pension you’d be losing!!

I’m in a similar role just new into it after a different department and it is Full On - I haven’t worked as hard since my 20s when I worked 247 in media and burned out, so I really feel your pain.

I honestly did so much less work at the same grade in a different department - is there another dept/role you can move to? Can you take parental leave or a career break?

The way I see it the CS isn’t right for me now, but in a while I could go back but I’m also actually considering a career change in a few years when I have more time to do the training. So now I really need to just stay sane, do a job I can manage and earn a bit of money. The pension isn’t everything!

commuting absolutely kills me even for 1 day and I’m out of sorts for days after. Think I have limited capacity for a demanding job and family life (have posted about this lots before).

policy role at the moment, but I’ve done a range of roles especially since having kids so feel a bit jack of all trades master of none! But was recently running a scheme pretty successfully and know I’m rated, so just need to try and believe I have transferable skills and will be able to get a job elsewhere!

also worth saying I have a lot to manage with my youngest and think we will have an awful lot to contend with to help him be school ready so I need to be able to focus on that.

I left for the same reasons as you OP, I resigned around a year ago and now work for a university. Happy to give more info if you want to PM me.

It’s worked out really well for me but a key detail is that it’s a less senior role, so I did take a pay cut and the role itself isn’t directly comparable to what I was doing in the CS.

I’m so glad I made the move but it felt like a big step. I had been there over ten years, was a grade 7 being encouraged to go for grade 6, but it just wasn’t right for me. Everyone kept telling me that the CS is such a great employer. I felt like there was something wrong with me because I wasn’t experiencing the amazing work/life balance and flexible, part time hours which I kept reading about online!

You poor thing that sounds like it’s all very stressful. I’ve never felt so like ‘parent like you don’t work, work like you’re not a parent’.

It sounds like a very obvious cliche but would you be a TA? I know a couple of v impressive non-teaching-career women who have done just this for several years, one has then done a degree in specialised something for SEN (not teaching exactly) and one has gone back to media and is doing brilliantly.

Are you outside London and having to commute in?

I do feel at the moment like the system is a bit broken (there is NO HELP where I am, no breakfast club no afterschool club places, can’t afford a nanny, can’t get an au pair even if we wanted one, grandparents too old and have their own lives, no cleaners where we lived and we couldn’t afford one anyway due to CoL crisis, garden is a wilderness which is nice for wildlife at least, can’t see friends as so tired and busy, but that’s fine as they all are too… and on and on and on.)

Just to be clear - I think ALL TAs are impressive, the amount they do for the money they earn is insane.

This is the kind of comment I had to train myself to ignore when I was considering whether or not to leave 😁

Obviously it’s a great pension but I ultimately decided that my happiness right now is just as important as when I retire in 30 years. And as I’d already worked in the CS for some time I’d built up a pretty good pension anyway, although of course it would be better if I had stayed.

Also a close family member died at 65 which sort of put the pension angle into perspective for me.

I can’t comment on the OP’s situation but for me it was the right decision, even though I did stay probably a couple of years longer than I should have done because people would say “but what about the pension!!” whenever I mentioned the possibility of leaving 😁

Hello, are you me?! Very similar and the way you describe it is EXACTLY how I feel! Also a 7 and the way everyone is getting over promoted at the moment I should be going for 6 but I just can’t face the idea. A shame as we have a fresh new energetic Ministerial team but it just feels too late.

Will PM you as universities were on my list, definitely interested to know what kinds of roles might fit! Totally happy for a bit of a pay cut for a while and luckily can accommodate it.

Couldn't you have changed department to somewhere where remote working was more of an option.

I'm assuming you've already looked into that but just asking.

You could try the NHS but if you need flexibility choose your department and manager very carefully. Despite the People Promise HR are currently banging on about across England in some departments flexible work isn't an option. In others managers are somewhat territorial about making sure their staff are present even where it's a backroom role that could be done at least partially and far more productively from home.

It's what will ultimately make me leave my current job when I've finished my current college course, we have already lost an excellent administrator with almost ten years experience because there was no flexibility in allowing them to work from home a couple of days a week. So despite the change in law I know there's no point my even asking while my current manager is in post.

There's definitely a power show going on and of course the manager swans off to "work from home" whenever they feel like it. We also have a few other absentee "managers" the same grade as I am who are getting away with blue bloody murder. No wonder some parts of the NHS are in such a bloody mess.

Back to your question though - try universities, jobs.ac.uk, and if searching indeed or linkedin or similar look for words like remote, WFH, working from home. With the health conditions in my family I am both furious and horrified that all the progress we made in this area since COVID has basically been lost.

Good luck, I hope you find something suitable.

Thank you, exactly this! In my division there are no other mums or PT workers so it’s not at all representative of the wider CS but it’s felt like that in all the teams I’ve been in since kids really.

I’m in a bit of Hertfordshire that’s not accessible to Westminster and I spend 4 hours commuting on a good day. It’s a lovely area but didn’t really consider the difficulties when having kids of school age! We also have issues that at the moment we’ve been told our youngest can’t attend after school club after being given a place (a whole separate nightmare) so basically have to rely on our parents for all after school and holidays which isn’t ideal. It just isn’t working for so many reasons. I’ve been burning out pretty regularly for the last 2 years, it doesn’t help that I do get anxiety but life is anxiety inducing! It feels awful when there is no support and no one wants to listen.

I agree TAs are amazing and it’s something I’ve considered although not sure I’m made for this kind of role, find my own stressful enough! But definitely considering school roles.

Must have been the highest numbers of civil servants in London post covid on Thursday. Heaving and queues out the doors at lunchtime. Keen to impress their new leaders and very aware that there will be mass job cuts as overstaffed.

cant you sit if out for the inevitable redundancy?

You could look at arms length bodies. Eg under DEFRA (CS) there is Natural England, Environment Agency. They do hybrid working but don't apply the rigid 60% and have more local (non central London) offices.

I may be proved wrong but I think generous voluntary redundancies are largely a thing of the past - departments just can’t afford it. Recruitment freezes and “natural wastage” seems to be the preferred method these days.

Yes, this is how I feel about the pension, it is amazing but it’s the classic gilded cage people speak of when it comes to the CS isn’t it. Yes if I stuck it out it’s obviously good but right now the cons outweigh the pros. And I don’t plan to stay in the CS long term anyway.

I did just take a career break in the hope it would give me some answers or clarity but all it did was reinforce that something has to change. But I didn’t seriously look for other roles during that time because of the security and pension etc and I kept thinking I’ll never have it as good elsewhere!

Absolutely agree with this, have never seen redundancies in my 10 years. Isn’t that what the 60% is meant to achieve after all?!

Ohhhh, is that what the 60% driver is??

My dept is hiring madly interestingly.

I don’t know if it is really but it’s been rumoured! It’s quite an indirect way of reducing the workforce but time will tell. I will be making it clear when I leave that this is a huge factor in my decision. Not just the policy itself but the blind refusal to try and understand why it’s not achievable for some people.

OP, so much resonates with me from your posts! I felt exactly the same as you, I look back on it now as a kind of Stockholm syndrome 🤣

Op are you in MOD? My area is actively trying to manage out some colleagues who can't do 60% even though they have health issues / disabilities