Careers: 17000 federal employees receive job notices - YourMoney.ca

The federal public service has handed out job notices to over 17,000 employees as part of the Harper government?s efforts to trim various departments and agencies.

Most of the 17,000 federal employees affected are in IT, according to a CBC report. One group is with Service Canada, supporting administration of benefits like EI, OAS and CPP, and a significant number of IT employees at Human Resources and Skills Development Canada received letters as well. Others include civilian employees of the RCMP, employees at the Parole Board of Canada, nurses who administer CPP and handfuls of staff in other areas.

Efficiency or job protection?

Critics, of course, are complaining, and loudly. This will reduce service to Canadians, they say, and insist that the economic effects of these job losses aren?t acceptable.

For its part, the government says this is part of an effort to operate more efficiently by ?reducing duplication and unnecessary administration.? CBC quoted Alyson Queen, a spokesperson for Human Resources Minister Diane Finley, as saying the department wants to "standardize" its IT systems, and "reduce the IT support it requires internally."

So where?s the line?

When government gets too ?fat? we complain. We criticize signs of bureaucratized inefficiency. And yet when those same ?inefficient? employees are axed, we cry economic foul.

Not actually laid off

One thing that?s important to note in this scenario is that the federal government hasn?t actually laid off 17,000 people. Under their system, these employees are considered ?affected,? which means that their jobs might be going away but it doesn?t necessarily mean they are. Government will restructure some of these services and reassign employees elsewhere.

The 2012 budget did indicate that 19,200 federal jobs would be eliminated but, as always, the government hopes to achieve some of that through voluntary retirement and severance (which can be quite a good deal for those who choose to take it). Some of the remaining affected employees will go elsewhere in government and, ultimately, after a long process that may take years, some may actually lose their jobs.

So is that okay? What do you think is the stronger obligation ? for the government to provide employment or to operate as efficiently as possible?

Source: http://blog.yourmoney.ca/2012/09/careers-17000-federal-employees-receive-job-notices-.html

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