Civil Service vs. Contractor

[lillyst]

My hubby is a civil servant and I think the only pro about it is the retirement. He had 8 years active duty and then got to add that to what he has in now. Other than that, I don't see any advantage. There are rarely any positions open in his field, and people on the contractor side of the house doing what he does make more money. He won't apply to any job except for gov't though b/c he doesn't want to lose the retirement. So from my vantage point, its like quick sand, once you're in for any amount of time you just start sinking b/c you can't go anywhere for fear of losing your retirement, but the raises are not enough to compensate what you could be making as a contractor....

Ok...I'm done with my rant! Sorry. Hope it helps though. :)

[beerlover]

Originally Posted by awpitt

17 years is a long time. I'm sure you're vested as far as retirement goes but that would be a big leap. If you had something like 3 or 4 years in than it wouldn't be a big deal but 17 years? It's almost like getting out of the military after 12 years of service.

Everyone keeps bringing up retirement, but I think they're thinking about the old CSRS retirement system where you get a pension. The only retirement benefit I get is a 401K (TSP), and if I jump over to a non-gov't job I can roll that over into a private 401K. It just seems like many offices these days are hiring more contractors than gov't employees.

[MrX (Premo)]

My GF said you may want to look here...

NAVAIR | www.navair.navy.mil click on JOBS
http://chart.donhr.navy.mil
Employment Opportunities

[hollywoman]

Please check with your HR dept before you jump to a contractor, regarding your retirement benefits. FERS you get a retirement check, TSP and SS benefits. You should also check with other DOD components for jobs other than DON, the jobs are there, DFAS, DECA, DLA etc. Check out usajobs.com, you don't have to work for NAVAIR there. But please make a call to your Benefits administrator before making a huge leap from federal service to contractor (nothing wrg with being a contractor), but with 17 yrs of gov't service i would not leave. Not even under NSPS would i leave with that many years in. Make a lateral move or reassignment to Pax, even a downgrade for a job at Pax would save money in the long run and if you are in a career ladder in one year you are back to where you were.

[clevalley (Premo)]

Being a contractor I know we get paid a lot better... but the benefits for the Fed is really good - harder to get canned also!

I also know as a contractor we do not have federal red tape when it comes to purchasing or getting something done... this really depends on the agency - I do know the people I work for will come to me to buy something on the contract so they can get it faster than dealing with gov. purchasing...

If I had 17 years vested - I would ride it out, retire and come back as a contractor...

[Ken King (Premo)]

Originally Posted by beerlover

Everyone keeps bringing up retirement, but I think they're thinking about the old CSRS retirement system where you get a pension. The only retirement benefit I get is a 401K (TSP), and if I jump over to a non-gov't job I can roll that over into a private 401K. It just seems like many offices these days are hiring more contractors than gov't employees.

FERS does have a retirement pension, it's just different than CSRS as it is three tiered, you get a percentage based on years of service, TSP, and SS without offset.

You would think that with 17 years of service you would at least now something about your benefits.

[raven]

Originally Posted by beerlover

I'm wondering about the pros and cons of staying civil service vs. going with a contractor job. I'm sick of driving up to DC every day. Do you think the savings in time/gas would be worth leaving civil service if I took a contractor job at Pax? I have my own opinions, but I wanted to hear some others and some of you may have already been on both sides of that coin.... I'm a FERS employee, so I don't have a pension to lose.

If you are going to be a contractor know the terms of the contract before making the move.I have heard some horror storys about going contract make sure they just got at least a 5 year contract and do not take their word for it because they will lie and do not think that the next company is going to pick you up when they re-compete because you just might find yourself in the unemployment line.

[BernieP]

Originally Posted by beerlover

I have 17 years. I have my resume out there, but I work in budget and they only pull the certs from one open-continuous announcement. I don't really know anyone down there who might name select me. Maybe I should go on base and go to the NAVAIR comptroller shop and start shaking hands and introducing myself.

The only benefits I really see to staying civil service is that I get more days off and MAYBE there is a little more job security, but I don't know how much these days..

1. you can negotiate for the leave
2. there is a reason the government and private industry use contract employees. You can turn them off (let them go) a lot faster and for significantly less money. So yes, job security is a lot better if you are civil service. You at least have a much longer lead time to find another job.

[Ken King (Premo)]

Originally Posted by lillyst

My hubby is a civil servant and I think the only pro about it is the retirement. He had 8 years active duty and then got to add that to what he has in now. Other than that, I don't see any advantage. There are rarely any positions open in his field, and people on the contractor side of the house doing what he does make more money. He won't apply to any job except for gov't though b/c he doesn't want to lose the retirement. So from my vantage point, its like quick sand, once you're in for any amount of time you just start sinking b/c you can't go anywhere for fear of losing your retirement, but the raises are not enough to compensate what you could be making as a contractor....

Ok...I'm done with my rant! Sorry. Hope it helps though. :)

Another comment.

Federal employees covered by FERS are elligible for an annuity after completing just 5 years of service (it will be deferred until age 62), with 10 or more years of service the annuity can start once reaching minimum retirement age. Claiming that you are trapped once in Federal Service is pure BS.

[beerlover]

Originally Posted by Ken King

FERS does have a retirement pension, it's just different than CSRS as it is three tiered, you get a percentage based on years of service, TSP, and SS without offset.

You would think that with 17 years of service you would at least now something about your benefits.

Yep - I just went out to the OPM website and looked it up. I swear I was never made aware of the pension part. I guess that was part of the benefit of HR regionalization. We don't even have an HR rep here at my organization, or at the other three I've been assigned to. By the way - why so angry?