The State of Minnesota is reporting that they may soon have a record number of job openings available for state government jobs:
The executive director of the Minnesota State Retirement System, Dave Bergstrom, said Monday that 2,733 state employees have retired as of this month, up 675 from the record 2,058 who retired in 2010.
This news should cause much happiness and relief for the State, right? As more and more people feel comfortable leaving the work force, younger folks can move up and be replaced at THEIR level by new job market entrants. This is the nature of things. Further, it may spell a growing confidence that we have seen the worst when it comes to our economic doldrums.
However, the State doesn’t see it that way:
However, State Demographer Tom Gillaspy said the wave of retirements does pose some problems for state government, which is faced with replacing senior employees with unique skills in subjects like school finance, tax collections and building roads in Minnesota’s hard climate.
Now, to be sure, from the perspective of Minnesota State executives, this IS a problem. Finding quality staff to replace senior staff is definitely an issue. Both in the government sector and in the private sector. However, from MY perspective, the fact that we have people less good at school finances and tax collections is a most wonderful condition.
The harder the State finds it to take and spend my money, the happier I am.
By the way, how, in this jobless recovery, is THIS possible:
The retirements could also bring into focus the state’s difficulty hiring top quality replacements, given that pay and promotions in state government now lag the private sector and academia, Gillaspy said.
It depends on the market for a particular job. If the private sector is paying CPAs $80,000 and the state offers only $45,000, they’ll not get a top accountant. People less good at something usually means inefficiency which increases costs so that might not mean the state ends up having to take in more money. The good news is that there are professions for which there is demand. One can get an MBA and become a CPA after having had any major for ones’ BA so smart folk with resources to pursue an MBA have options!
If the private sector is paying CPAs $80,000 and the state offers only $45,000, they’ll not get a top accountant.
Unless that candidate appreciates not being subject to performance reviews. The trade off in a government job is security over fiscal compensation.
But if a candidate appreciates not being subject to performance reviews, the odds are that the candidate is not as good. Simply, if the government doesn’t pay a market rate, the government is unlikely to get the quality of people the private sector grabs. This may not always be bad — but when it comes to audits of government programs and other financial issues, not having good people might lead to more inefficiency. That said, there are always quality people who do prefer less stress — I know people who have chosen to become a Physicians Assistant rather than an MD because while well paid, they earn much less than doctors and have far, far less stress. How many quality people make such compromises for non-monetary “quality of life” issues is unknown.
I am drifting a little off of the thread, but this does relate to Liberal economics . I was at a customer’s construction business today and I asked him how generally things were. He said in the commercial construction, things were fair . He said he had trouble getting carpenters . In fact he had openings for 4 carpenters. He said carpenters do not want to work.
They can sit at home for 2 years on unemployment and do a few side jobs a month and come out better than working for him . I personally have friends in other fields that did not look for a job until their 99 weeks were just about up .
Point being, that liberal do gooder programs have delayed the jobs recovery . There is a lot less stress sitting at home than there is going to any kind of work .