28 October 2009

Coming to a workplace near you: APS sardines

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I am not so concerned by this announcement as I’m fairly certain my department is one of those in the “less than 15 square metres per person” category so it is surely considered cutting edge under the new “Occupational Density Target” for the APS announced today. But for those of you living it up in the 25 square metres per person departments – be warned that the future is looking more cramped.

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but a bloke needs space for an after lunch belch and fart. Gee, reduce the average space and there may well be lots of complaints.

Save the world

Gungahlin Al said :

Good to see Tanner borrowing so strongly from the old Howard school of false economies – save on rent and lose on productivity. Toss in a good old dose of Howard-style Canberra bashing to keep up stocks with the wannabe shock jocks and Tele readers.

I’m in one of these recent “nowhere to even park your gym bag” refits and it sucks. But hey everyone knows plenty about everyone else’s work and that just has to be good for multiskilling in the workplace right? Not sure we all need to know quite so much about the quality of each others’ marital relationships, child rearing skills, etc, but if we’re taking one to the neck it’s for the good of the whole country right? Right??

And has anyone seen Tanner and co on a Virgin flight, or foresaking their Chairmans Club membership, or queueing for a taxi, or ending taxpayer funded meals, or paying for their own flights to attend party functions?

moneypenny26127:01 pm 29 Oct 09

Mr Evil said :

Maybe this is a cunning way of finding room in Australia for all these ‘genuine refugees’ that Krudd is having such a hard time with lately – squeeze two of them in beside a public servant, and get them to run errands, photocopy documents, make coffee, etc all day long?

Ah yes – administrative support services. Those were the days… they were retrenched because email etc was supposed to result in the paperless office.

Maybe this is a cunning way of finding room in Australia for all these ‘genuine refugees’ that Krudd is having such a hard time with lately – squeeze two of them in beside a public servant, and get them to run errands, photocopy documents, make coffee, etc all day long?

Thoroughly Smashed10:17 am 29 Oct 09

Ceej1973 said :

colourful sydney racing identity said :

Some APS departments have ridiculously large work stations – I am looking at you Ceej1973…

I spent some time in facilities management and had to resize some work stations, I could not believe the way some people reacted – it was like they caught me puting sugar in their petrol tanks while sodomising their grandmother.

Using itchy powder in work stations as a means of evicting under performing staff, was not my idea of useful utelisation of FMO resources CSRI !

I’d like to hear more about this particular story…

colourful sydney racing identity said :

Some APS departments have ridiculously large work stations – I am looking at you Ceej1973…

I spent some time in facilities management and had to resize some work stations, I could not believe the way some people reacted – it was like they caught me puting sugar in their petrol tanks while sodomising their grandmother.

Using itchy powder in work stations as a means of evicting under performing staff, was not my idea of useful utelisation of FMO resources CSRI !

Gungahlin Al9:10 am 29 Oct 09

Good to see Tanner borrowing so strongly from the old Howard school of false economies – save on rent and lose on productivity. Toss in a good old dose of Howard-style Canberra bashing to keep up stocks with the wannabe shock jocks and Tele readers.

I’m in one of these recent “nowhere to even park your gym bag” refits and it sucks. But hey everyone knows plenty about everyone else’s work and that just has to be good for multiskilling in the workplace right? Not sure we all need to know quite so much about the quality of each others’ marital relationships, child rearing skills, etc, but if we’re taking one to the neck it’s for the good of the whole country right? Right??

colourful sydney racing identity9:04 am 29 Oct 09

Some APS departments have ridiculously large work stations – I am looking at you Ceej1973…

I spent some time in facilities management and had to resize some work stations, I could not believe the way some people reacted – it was like they caught me puting sugar in their petrol tanks while sodomising their grandmother.

about time the Commonwealth got with the rest of us public servants living in tighter living conditions! One less luxury for the feds!

These guidelines are outrageous. I work for an NGO. We don’t have a lot of money, and work out of a D grade office with a 70s fitout. No showers (sub optimal for bike commuters such as myself), proper kitchen facilities, lifts, or other bling. As part of my work I have occasion to periodically visit various APS cubicle farms, and find them to be utterly soulless and repugnant workplaces, in spite of the interesting and important work that people do in them.

Give me my crappy old school setup with its privacy, window, and personal space any day. Another reason not to opt for a substantial pay increase and go and work in the APS.

moneypenny261210:52 pm 28 Oct 09

The agency I work in is presently going through a blocking and stacking exercise so as to fit around 70 more people into the same modest buildings. A lot of money is being spent on reducing our current 17-18sqm workstations to the 16sqm desired by the Govt beancounters (BTW my workplace has been told that the per workstation benchmark also counts foyers, meeting rooms and other common spaces; it is not really a reflection of personal space in the workplace).

Interestingly, the down-sizing does not seem to affect the SES – some of whom occupy small acreages. My local chiefs say that the SES would only take smaller offices by individual agreement. They like to assert that there is a ‘minimum standard’ to which they are entitled. I do not know if that is true.

As some agencies continue to expand their SES ranks, it seems the rest of us need to get cosy to accommodate their special needs.

I offered to work from home (the ultimate space saver) but was knocked back.

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