Jodi’s Journal: In defense of government workers

One of the greatest opportunities of my career was being a so-called government worker.

I served for four years in city government for Sioux Falls. If you ever have the chance to do the same, to be part of government at any level — local, state or federal, whether serving as an employee, an elected official or on a volunteer board, I encourage you to do so.

You will gain a perspective on government that will make you a better citizen.

You will learn, as I did, that a governmental entity is essentially like any other organization. It has its star performers and its underperformers. There are layers of bureaucracy and layers of checks and balances, and the trick is minimizing one without compromising the other. There are programs and practices that probably outlive their useful life and others that deserve more investment.

The difference, of course, is accountability. In the private sector, we’re accountable to our owners, our shareholders, our stakeholders or a combination of them.

In government, you’re accountable to the public. You’re managing the public’s money to provide public services. There should be a high bar for performance. There should be a focus on efficiency, innovation and all the other operational best practices that guide any successful organization.

I’ve watched from a distance in recent weeks as an unprecedented effort within the federal government to restructure its operations has unfolded, led by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

I tried to determine how many federal workers have been laid off in recent weeks, which quickly proved impossible given the information available and the ever-evolving approach to this attempt at streamlining operations.

USA Today reports that the White House did not respond to its repeated requests “for a precise number of fired employees. The firings are expected to shift next month to include workers not in a probationary period,” it reported.

We do know a buyout offer went to approximately 2.3 million federal workers. It arrived via an email with the now-famous headline “A fork in the road.”

And therein lies the start of the problem.

An email.

I think there is a perception among some — and I venture to say in the majority of cases it’s a misperception — that we have vast numbers of government workers cashing a paycheck in return for minimal work output.

I just don’t think that’s the case, particularly as I’ve seen people I personally know and have worked with become part of these recent staff reductions.

Instead, I think we probably are allowing years — even decades — of institutional knowledge and unique skills sets to walk out the door, with a disturbingly dehumanizing bent to it along the way that deserves pushback.

An email isn’t how you tell someone who has given years of public service, and in some cases likely done it in lieu of commanding a higher salary in the private sector, that at best their work no longer is needed and at worst represents waste or even fraud.

It was striking to me that last week on our sister site, Pigeon605, we had the opportunity to tell an incredible story of the work Sioux Falls Fire Rescue did last year to save lives at McCook Lake amid devastating floods.

You can read the full story here, but the bottom line is these “government workers” were nothing short of heroic. And that same kind of work happens in ways large and small every day, from the law enforcement agent working an impactful case to the VA worker caring for a veteran to people serving as resources for small businesses and supporting accessible housing.

They’re all government workers. They work for you and me. I know how I would want my employees managed, held accountable and treated when their services are deemed no longer needed. And it’s not like what I’ve seen reported. I’m hopeful there might be more happening behind the scenes, as there often is in government, but outwardly it has set a tone that makes me wonder why any top talent would consider a career in federal service.

And don’t kid yourself, the public sector faces the same workforce challenges the private sector does — sometimes more acutely. Look no farther than the city of Sioux Falls’ large-scale public awareness campaign about its many job openings.

Or actually, maybe do look a little farther, to the state of Minnesota, which put out messaging recently aimed at displaced federal workers to encourage them to consider opportunities within state government.

The state linked to its careers website with information about:

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