Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

I know this will sound coarse and unfeeling. But if that's the way staffing in the federal government works, then they're going to have to join the real world as it exists in private industry today. If they wind up being required to do all the work that 10-20% more people did before their departments were downsized, then they'd better get used to it. And they'd better not get too down in the dumps over having to work longer, harder and smarter. They shouldn't forget that there are hundreds of thousands of highly qualified out-of-work people out there who would be overjoyed to take the jobs that makes their morale suffer so.

My son works for an auto company. Over 12-18 months, he had to downsize his department by 50%. The amount of work and responsibilities didn't change one iota. It was up to him and the people still employed to figure out a way to get the job done with the input of fewer people. "Work smarter" as they say. I'd also say that it means working longer hours and more days per week for the same pay.

Government employees better get used to the same environment. If we are to cut spending to the degree the arithmetic tells us it needs to be cut, some simple 2-for-1 attrition formula won't come close to providing the needed spending cuts.