Private vs. Public

I spent the last four hours in a bar talking shop with a friend. The friend in question works in the public sector whereas I know nothing outside the confines of the private sector. We have a great deal in common, but we also seem to clash over many issues. Mainly over my desire to make money and retire as soon as humanly possible compared to his desire to improve everyone's quality of life.

Both of our parents are or were teachers, and for the remainder of this post I will use the present tense. As it turns out they both teach English and are near, or have already hit, the Glass Ceiling in the world of teaching English.

We both agree that teachers are, for the most part, much maligned and deserve more respect and financial reimbursement, however we agree that there are a number of bad apples letting the side down.

So, back to my friend, and his job in the public sector. This guy works hard and goes above and beyond what's required of him in order to do an outstanding job. And it doesn't stop there. This guy takes his role very seriously, refuses to merely give 95%, and is an all-round good guy. He is exactly the sort of person you want managing a team of Business Analysts or leading one of your Projects. Simply put, this guy doesn't quit.

He doesn't get stressed, he doesn't work late to prove how 'dedicated' he is, he genuinely just delivers what's promised within the allocated time frame and then clocks off at the end of the day. He is the epitome of a self-managed hard worker.

To summarise, he is exactly what the private sector needs more of.

We got into a very involved conversation about the different recruitment processes employed by the public and private sectors, and the incentives offered by each. He is earning a salary comparable to mine, however he receives neither an annual bonus nor a pay-rise. To me this seems ludicrous. A person who is, to boil it down to the simplest, working five days a week to maintain and improve the quality of living of the entire nation doesn't even get a cost of living raise? What the hell is that about? Cue me advocating the virtues of a career in the private sector over a plethora of empty bottles, preaching about how you can perform adequately and still make the grade.

My dad worked his ass off for too long for the joy of the job and the benefit of his students and ended up getting dicked on by the powers that be. My friend's mum is still in the game, working as a head of department whilst simultaneously managing special education for the entire school and how is she rewarded? That's right, she has the threat of a pay cut hanging over her.

In summary, the people that really matter to the good of the nation (the teachers, the police, the paramedics, the social workers) are all getting a short straw. My friend tells me that "you've got to be the right kind of person to do these jobs," and therefore the remuneration isn't a massive factor. You've got to instinctively want to work your fingers to the bone for your fellow countrymen. This business model seems to work for our respective parents, but I can't help but wonder how many potentially awesome teachers decided against a career in education to pursue a far more profitable career in the private sector.

Granted, there will always be good people willing to do the right thing for the next generation, to try and educate them, to try and help them become all they can be. But there must also be an equal, if not greater number of moral, intelligent people who just want to make some paper and provide for their own as best they can regardless of anything else. Surely that's evolution?