Pros
The pay is good ($13.41 an hour) and the work is easy. You don't even have to have a college degree to work here.
Cons
I work as a data transcriber at the Decennial Operations Branch. After the census forms are scanned in, we transcribe, or type in the written data that we see on our computer screens. It's a very sleep-induced job as that is the only thing you do all day. Sometimes once every few weeks or so, the supervisors will walk around all the computer stations for a couple of days to make sure we're actually working. If you talk you must be keying while you talk as that is the general rule about the job. There's more terms than there are temps working here. Terms get benefits and get called back for future assignments. I am a temp. Temps, once they are laid off, are not eligible for rehire. There is also a lot of favoritism among employees and their supervisors and leads, and few people get recognized for their hard work. There is no opportunity for advancement, the hours are long (7:15 to 3:45), and it's quite stressful when you have to worry about someone watching over you to see if you're working. No one tells us what's going on when work starts running out or we want an update on how things are going. We rely on rumors from the "rumor mill" and have staff meetings maybe once a month if we're lucky. Not only that but the working conditions are unfavorable. The cleaning people come around and empty the trash and clean the restrooms and maybe wipe down the tables in the break room. Other than that, we work in a warehouse environment, not an office environment like one would think since we're doing office work. The break room is filthy and hardly ever cleaned, and each unit one Friday a week has to clean the fridges and microwaves out which is not even our responsibility...that's what we pay cleaning people to do. Our computer stations are full of dust, our computers are dirty and never cleaned. It's really bad. If you want to be treated like a robot or a temporary slave, this is the job for you, and if you're desperate for a job in this economy like I am you'll do what you have to do. Otherwise, avoid this kind of work if you can and find a better job. Thank goodness this won't be around again for another ten years -- I'm actually ready to be laid off. Hopefully I'll have a much better job so when 2020 rolls around, I will not be doing this again. The Federal Government isn't that great to work for unless you're connected and can get a job at a grade level higher than a GG4. The lower-level GG4 and 3 positions are horrible.