Pros
- Lots of time off unless it's session, lots of holidays - Things don't move too fast, relatively low-stress work most of the time - Better than average public sector benefits; really solid health plan - Kind, family-oriented people; many have been there for decades - Senior leadership puts people first, responded to Covid well, is slowly modernizing, offers services/education to employees to some degree - Hybrid work model going forward; likely 3 days in office for those who can - People mostly respect each other, treat each other well; no backstabbing - Answer to legislature, not governor, which means less being caught in the political crossfire (but still happens sometimes, ie this year) - Very hard to lose your job - a double edged sword of course, see below
Cons
- Base pay can't compete with private sector, making it hard to attract/retain the best - A lot of long-timers waiting out retirement, doing bare minimum, can't/won't be removed and they know it; others really do care and work hard, however - Most managers are very good, respectful, and competent; some are much less so - luck of the draw - They like to hire and promote internally - which is good - but results in some unqualified people in those positions oftentimes - Technology is modernizing, culture is really not. Extreme siloing, red tape, legacy systems - All this results in a lot of slowness, disorganization, confusion - Mandatory 9.5% salary to pension fund, 10 year min vest; benefits slashed repeatedly unless grandfathered in meaning new hires are compensated a good amount less. Old-timers set for life, then pulled up ladder (often the case in public sector sadly) - Subpar/depressing workspace underground for many employees - say goodbye to the sun and hello to depression in there - On-call/legislative session can be brutal long hours; sessions keep getting longer and more polarized; no overtime pay, just a weak substitute called comp time