March 9, 2025
One of the greatest opportunities in my career was to be a so-called government employee.
I served for four years in the city government for Sioux Falls. If you have the possibility of doing the same, to be part of the government at any level – local, state or federal, whether as an employee, an elected official or a voluntary advice, I encourage you to do so.
You will have a perspective on the government that will make you a better citizen.
You will learn, like me, that a government entity is essentially like any other organization. He has his star artists and his sub-performants. There are layers of bureaucracy and layers of checks and scales, and the trick is to minimize one without compromising the other. There are programs and practices that probably overcome their useful lives and others that deserve more investments.
The difference, of course, is the responsibility. In the private sector, we are responsible for our owners, our shareholders, our stakeholders or a combination of them.
In government, you are responsible for the public. You manage public money to provide public services. There should be a high bar for performance. Emphasis should be on efficiency, innovation and all other operational best practices that guide any successful organization.
I have watched at a distance in recent weeks as an unprecedented effort in the federal government to restructure its operations is taking place, led by the Ministry of Effectiveness of the Government, or Doge.
I tried to determine how many federal workers have been dismissed in recent weeks, which quickly proved to be impossible given the information available and the constantly evolving approach to this attempt to rationalize operations.
USA today Note that the White House did not respond to its repeated requests “for a specific number of dismissed employees. Releases should change next month to include workers not in a period of probation, “he reported.
We know that a buyout has increased to around 2.3 million federal workers. He arrived via an email with the famous title “A fork on the road”.
And this is where the start of the problem lies.
An e-mail.
I think there is a perception among some – and I venture to say that in the majority of cases, it is an erroneous perception – that we have a large number of civil servants collecting a payroll in exchange for minimum work production.
I do not think that is the case, especially since I have seen people that I know personally and that I have worked with being part of these recent staff reductions.
Instead, I think we probably allow years – even decades – institutional knowledge and unique skills sets to go out, with a disturbing dehumanizing inclination along the way that deserves a repression.
An e-mail is not the way you say to someone who gave years of public service and, in some cases, probably did it instead of ordering a higher salary in the private sector, that, at best, their work is no longer necessary and at worst represents waste or even fraud.
It was in the process of hitting me that last week on our sister site, Pigeon605, we had the opportunity to tell an incredible story of the work that Sioux Falls Rescue did last year to save lives at McCook Lake in the middle of devastating floods.
You can read the full story here, But the main thing is that these “government workers” were nothing less than the heroic. And this same type of work occurs in a large and small manner every day, the agent responsible for the application of the laws who works a hard -hitting case to the worker will take care of a veteran for people serving resources for small businesses and supporting accessible housing.
They are all employees of the government. They work for you and me. I know how I would like my employees to be managed, held responsible and treated when their services are no longer necessary. And it is not like what I have seen. I hope there could be more behind the scenes, because there is often to the government, but externally, it gave a tone that makes me ask me why any talent considered a career in the federal service.
And do not make fun, the public sector faces the same challenges in the private sector – sometimes more acute. Look no further than the large -scale public awareness campaign of the city of Sioux Falls on its many job offers.
Or in fact, perhaps a little like the state of Minnesota, which published messages recently intended for displaced federal workers to encourage them to consider opportunities within the government of the State.
The state is linked to its career website to information on:
- Job search and application preparation, including workshops in person and online, Curriculum Vitae’s opinions and networking opportunities.
- Resources for veterans.
- Instructions to request unemployment insurance services.
“The state of Minnesota is an excellent place to work, with jobs in a wide variety of areas focused on the provision of essential services and work to improve the well-being and quality of life of all minnesotans,” said Erin Campbell, commissioner of Minnesota management and budget, in a press release. “We welcome the candidacies of federal workers, who include the power of the public service to improve life.”
I hope that our governments of the state, the county and the municipalities also take this opportunity to connect with the talent that I know will be available or is already, and I encourage private employers to do the same.
I have no doubt that there are many opportunities to create a more effective federal government, because there would be such important organization in any organization. As a taxpayer, I expect the commitment to continuous improvement, no matter who is in office. I also fully recognize the much greater changes that will be necessary to really approach the federal deficit and national debt – it is the real “fork on the road”.
But in the meantime, try to remember that people have had an impact today by what is largely like a political statement is just that – people. If you have already crossed a layoff or watched a colleague assigned by one, it is not different and their value is no less. And if you are someone who is recently touched, I will say what I hope that the others have already said to you: Thank you for your service.