Fifty-four years ago, immediately after graduating from college and prior to entering law school, I was hired by a Federal Government agency as a summer intern. My view of Wash DC government employment was formed then, and I’ve never gone back. Maybe it’s different now?
First off, my boss (the agency head, and son of a very big name in the judiciary, had no idea I was starting work when I showed up on Monday morning. He ttold me to cool it all day and see him in the morning. By then, he had dreamed up a make-work project for me, saying I should give him a report during my final week (“so make it last…” was the inference. The project was complete during my second week, so after that I did a lot of reading of stuff from, and often in, the agency library.
The description in this memo regarding the work habits of permanent staff rings true based on what I saw. I could not say with any conviction that 80% of the staff were essentially non-productive (had a fraction of a real job, at most), but it surely seemed like it COULD have been. No way it was fewer than half.
Errands, coffee breaks, long lunches, socializing, gabbing on the phone, crossword puzzles, The Racing Form, magazine reading, one finger typing, etc… you can get pretty close to 8 hours of that kind of routine if you really apply yourself and use your imagination. Some tried to look busy, while others just didn’t even bother. For those “others” the desk was a stopping off place in between going here and there outside the office.
It was literally shocking, but no one seemed upset about it.