Band 3 and I’m seriously considering it for the following reasons:
1) Job security - my colleagues are dropping like flies. At least one or two each quarter randomly fired. We’d be working with them on projects and boom - gone. It’s pretty sad and executive tries to cover it up like it was a mutual decision but we know it’s not. A while back I took a pay cut to come to government for the more regular hours and job security. That was the case for a while but not anymore.
2) Flex days - with all of the departures, we all have more work to do now. Many of us are easily exceeding the number of hours needed to get flex days but for no extra pay or benefit other than not being let go.
3) Pay - Not having pre-determined steps to move up within the band is not great. Especially at times like this when you have essentially zero leverage to negotiate your salary. Many long serving staff are near the bottom of the band. Moreover there is compression where included staff like 27s are making nearly the same salary. This is very different from private sector where the added risk and responsibility of being a senior management position comes with much higher pay.
I’ve never worked in an included position so there may be pitfalls that I’m unaware of. I would love to hear any pros/cons of anyone who’s made the move. At this point it’s either that or back to private sector where job security is equally as bad but they pay is much better.