I work in a Western US state for a city. As a government employee, I am paid decently for the role, but not great. The perk is (was) the affordable health insurance and the retirement system/pension. With the pandemic l, inflation, etc. there have been a few holds on raises and bonuses just aren't a thing. It makes sense, we are paid by tax dollars. However, HOW you spend tax dollars is important, and the recent decision for the wages is why I decided to cut the ties and move on.
The city gave a 5% market increase across the board to all employees, which given the rate of inflation is better than nothing, but still a loss. They then restructured “merit increases” (aka yearly raises) so that if your performance review is Exceeds Expectations (something insanely difficult to get, you practically need to get a new degree or license) you qualify for 2%. Most everyone will instead be in the Meets Expectations category, which means only 1% raise per year.
My health insurance cost per check jumped nearly 45%, I spend $100 a week in gas, and rent went up 20%. In the end, I have about an extra $400 a paycheck going out, but it is cool, they will give 28 cents an hour more next year… 56 cents if I am a rock star.
I laid everything out for HR in my exit interview and her only response is “You'll be losing out on your Retirement Benefits”. I told her that isn't true and here is why. We are mandated to pay 12% pretax into the system, which is matched. We are fully vested from day one. In the time I have been with the city this amount is a little over $150,000. When I quit I can roll it into 401K's or Roth IRA's and not be taxed. Or I can just cash out, take the 40% tax hit, and have the dough. I then showed that I would still need to work 24 years to qualify for the plan 100% payout and that their track record shows I would make about $75K a year at that time. I then showed how inflation models mean that I would be hurting bad with only that in 24 years. Instead, I showed her what putting the money into various accounts would likely do, even on a very safe investment strategy. (I am not talking WSB stuff).That would give me potential dividends of over $120K a year in the same time frame.
She just sat there l, dumbfounded on how I would leave a “government job” and give up a pension. I didn't tell her that I have already signed a contract to do the same type of work for a private entity at about a 20% raise.