Gazza the Public Service Defender leaps into the fray

ainsliebraddon said :

As I look around my open plan office, observing the number of people surfing the web aimlessly because they have not been given any work or their managers don’t know how to manage, there is definitely room for cuts here.

Obviously this is not the same at all Departments. And no, I am not going to say where I work now!

Hello Pot, it’s the Kettle calling…

I’m not at work right now but openly admit to looking at the internet and adding comments on here from work. I find APS bashing (and the Canberra bashing that goes along with it) to be especially funny when it’s conducted online. How do all these supposedly “real” workers have time to comment?

@ Kerryhemsley

I left the APS on my own free wil and was fairly high up as well. no sour grapes here just a honest opinion of my own.

dundle said :

That’s quite amusing considering a public service recruitment freeze/cuts was one of the Coalition’s promises last election.

And there was a loooong, unofficial one after Rudd got in. Not announced, he just starved them to death and a freeze was one way to achieve the savings he demanded from running costs (not program costs).

Certainly in the central agencies, I wouldn’t say they’re overstaffed.

Health et al, that’s another story. For what they do, yes they are over-staffed but when you have EL level people churning out responses to ministerials written by fruitcakes, the sort that used to go in the bin, you can see what the staff are being wasted on.

That’s quite amusing considering a public service recruitment freeze/cuts was one of the Coalition’s promises last election.

Hot tip: there’ll be job cuts from more than just Centrelink.

bulldog600 said :

about bloody time some cuts came about. The APS is overstaffed and not efficent. The APS has the highest number of workers comp claims per working population in the country. Add that to all the other wasted money for some people who do not want to work period! I used to be in the APS and left because of the sub standard so called managers that couldnt make a decision to save themselves unless it was in relation to morning tea or lunch. Also the amount of people that were not suited to the jobs but some how got them in the great APS selection process and also how people would get promoted when clearly they cant handle the work. If everybody stoped whinging and realised how much the behaviour of some public servants hit their pockets then they may realise why this is necessary for any government to do.

Nice to see a balanced argument with no generalisations or sour grapes.

about bloody time some cuts came about. The APS is overstaffed and not efficent. The APS has the highest number of workers comp claims per working population in the country. Add that to all the other wasted money for some people who do not want to work period! I used to be in the APS and left because of the sub standard so called managers that couldnt make a decision to save themselves unless it was in relation to morning tea or lunch. Also the amount of people that were not suited to the jobs but some how got them in the great APS selection process and also how people would get promoted when clearly they cant handle the work. If everybody stoped whinging and realised how much the behaviour of some public servants hit their pockets then they may realise why this is necessary for any government to do.

As I look around my open plan office, observing the number of people surfing the web aimlessly because they have not been given any work or their managers don’t know how to manage, there is definitely room for cuts here.

Obviously this is not the same at all Departments. And no, I am not going to say where I work now!

Of course, delivering more programs with less staff in an environment where the best staff decide to leave because of staffing cuts and fewer promotion opportunities and reduced training and skill development – creates no risks.