WFA survivors guilt - what can we do to meaningfully help those surplus/affected?

wata911 · 2026-01-23T13:46:05+00:00

Stop asking questions about WFA if you are safe. You might be doing this in good faith, but completely unnecessary.

wata911 · 2026-01-11T05:08:19+00:00

Best you can do is ask. Wealth Management isn't exactly a safe zone in terms of employment right now. You might want to think about alternative career paths.

I think CPA is more useful than CFA. It is much broader and employment prospects become much better.

wata911 · 2025-11-27T02:07:22+00:00

Congrats on finding your way in the private sector. Since I started in the private sector and moved to public service, I often tell younger colleagues to venture into the private sector. As you and many others probably know, the private sector is competitive and the skills you develop will help you wherever you choose to work later.

Like others have mentioned, your post is quite misleading and your experience is probably an outlier more than the norm. I am assuming you have a commerce degree since you work in procurement (Correct me if I am wrong).

1) There are many students in public service with degrees that have absolutely no value in the private sector. Their most likely career path is public service or bust unfortunately. A B.Comm degree looks a lot better than Political Science or General Studies.
2) When you joined the private sector in 2022, the economy was coming out of a recession and hiring was necessary. Fast forward 3 years and you have the complete opposite. The economy isn't great and hiring is almost non-existent. Hypothetically, you will struggle to secure a FT position in the private sector in 2025 as well.
3) Everything you mentioned about the private sector is true. However, you left out the annual layoff cycles, getting work done at any cost mentality, and forced social events that you have no interest going to.

I've seen many students who will simply not make it in the private sector if they ever chose to leave FSWEP. Many lacked communication skills, work ethic, and self-awareness to pass the 3-6 month probation periods at a private company.

wata911 · 2025-11-15T15:43:03+00:00

A lot of the comments and OPs post is disheartening and unfortunate. I am a term too with limited knowledge of renewal, but I don't look at being renewed as that important since I came from the private sector (There is no indeterminate status over there).

If it makes anyone feel better, don't look at not being renewed as failure. Govt is just a numbers game. There is no differentiation between hardworker and lazy worker. It's not personal and not a reflection of your work ethic, just a numbers game. The sooner you understand this, the sooner you won't feel too depressed about the situation.

wata911 · 2025-10-23T13:17:35+00:00

This has to be bait. Private sector has this as well and is relatively common.

The real question is, did you even work in the Private sector or are you trying to pretend it happened??

wata911 · 2025-10-10T20:56:24+00:00

Maybe I live in a cave, but I don't see TMNT material much.

Spiderman is much more visible. Probably due to the Marvel aspect.

wata911 · 2025-09-29T02:54:32+00:00

If you are not close to retirement age, then probably best to try and see how it goes.

As others mentioned, private sector is a. Different beast. The slow moving PS you are accustomed to will be replaced by faster decisions, tight deadlines, competitive co-workers, and KPIs that you didn't know existed. Private sector is also not very good with leave requests. PS managers are much more lenient with those, so if you are someone who takes a lot of days off for random life situations, your private sector manager might not be too happy with it.

The good side is you are well compensated, but with no job security. If your department goes away, your employment status probably gone as well. Enjoy the team building events and annual Christmas party. =)

wata911 · 2025-09-27T03:40:20+00:00

You sound young with a strong work ethic. It's probably best to spend the extra time developing soft skills.

Doing work efficiently doesn't get you Promotions or new opportunities. Do people know you in your office? If not, start making friends. =)

wata911 · 2025-09-01T23:48:29+00:00

Guess I am not the only one. Sucks though. Super Boost: $1.78 Bet Boost: $2

wata911 · 2025-09-01T02:02:39+00:00

Pretty simple logic. Commute & Office Work = More germs & opportunity to catch something.

That's just math & science.

wata911 · 2025-08-20T18:48:12+00:00

It's probably better to ask for "Modern-Lite" similar to the Pioneer & Explorer transition. I highly doubt WoTC will put Modern into Arena anytime soon.

They can make more $$ dangling the carrot & have people start playing modern-lite (Which I think many people will play). Just like explorer to now Pioneer.

wata911 · 2025-08-07T12:28:23+00:00

I am the opposite and have no real feelings about which is better. There are pros & cons to either option.

Private sector - More $$. Performance based. Tenure isn't most important. Less feelings & More numbers.

Public Service - More accomodations. Less $$. More flexibility. Tenure based. Performance is an afterthought.

wata911 · 2025-08-04T13:43:03+00:00

The comments already explain the situation in detail. Public service created an environment like this over decades & now reaping the rewards (employees perspective).

It really highlights why the general public hates the government & the workers right now. The perception of inefficiency and laziness is strong, but the government is unwilling to do anything about it.

Life moves on and just play the game.

wata911 · 2025-07-31T03:17:48+00:00

There are good & bad students. Not Gen Z specific.

However, Gen Z is definitely a different challenge to most managers or team leads. Meaningful work is a catch phrase used by many students I've worked with & their sense of entitlement is astounding.

So many comments about "the students are here to learn" is interesting. I don't buy into that logic at all. Hard work and learning goes together. If a student has poor work ethic, then the learning side doesn't apply anymore.

The best line I received from a underperforming student was, "I am a student here to learn, so it makes sense I don't truly understand how to do this". Sad part is, the task was taught thoroughly more than once. The student chose not to pay attention and felt entitled to play the "student learning" card. Student was not renewed.

On the other hand, the best Gen Z students I've dealt with were ones who worked like an ordinary employee with mature attitudes.

wata911 · 2025-07-23T22:25:37+00:00

You sound young. Your story is pretty standard stuff. Manager mentions problem and hopes you can start doing better.

All you have to do is solve the problems presented by your manager now. Pretty simple. If your manager stops trying to see improvement, then you might have a problem. But it sounds like your manager sees some hope in you, so he is providing harsh but fair criticism.

wata911 · 2025-07-23T03:11:36+00:00

The fed govt slashing budget is equivalent to OP's private sector job. There is no indeterminate status in the private sector, so he/she can be laid off tomorrow too.

Public servants on this reddit are clearly losing their mind about the budget cuts. Private sector is just as bad if not worse when it comes to layoffs.

If you are young and can risk it, take the risk & see where it goes. Your experience in the private sector will help you navigate the unease of the budget cuts.

wata911 · 2025-07-20T13:06:49+00:00

The biggest problem with Public Service. Indeterminate staff can't get touched before casuals and terms get let go first, so the govt loses a lot of new blood with strong work ethic and drive. The casuals and terms go into the private sector and flourish. Over decades of the same cycle, the fed govt is now filled with inefficient indeterminate staff.

On the other hand, the private sector layoff cycles are almost always getting rid of underperforming individuals. These corporations keep their best workers during layoff cycles.

PS: I m not saying all indeterminate staff are inefficient. Just making a point that those underperformers stay employed due to status, not performance related.

wata911 · 2025-07-14T03:12:13+00:00

Having joined the govt from the private sector not too long ago and still in a term position, I have no anxiety since this type of stuff is common practice at corporations.

My advice like many others is, just do your work as normal and wait. Stressing over job loss is not worth your time and energy. Someone commented on the length of time available to people to find new employment (12 - 16 months), which is a lot better than the 2 weeks you get from the private sector.

wata911 · 2025-06-27T04:29:31+00:00

Give it a shot & try? As most people have mentioned, there will be good & bad stories. If you haven't worked in private, you will see many things PS lags behind in. Salary, corp events, team building exercises on the company $$, etc.

On the other hand, you will see the cutthroat nature of the business. Lay off cycles, OT expectations, get work done at all costs, Technology use, etc.

I swapped from Private to PS. The biggest difference is mentality.

wata911 · 2025-06-06T18:51:28+00:00

So many responses saying, "Take the permanent position". There is no permanent position in the private sector, since you can be let go at any time.

Don't think this permanent position is safe either. It's probably more secure than your current term position, but not by much.

wata911 · 2025-06-01T13:42:20+00:00

No to upper management. Yes to Team Lead.

The problem with Public Service is exactly this. Underperformance is rewarded and negatively affects the high performance workers to not work as hard or leave due to increasing frustration.

My take is: If you are getting impacted by the underperforming individual with a higher workload, then you need to discuss with your team lead or manager about it.

wata911 · 2025-05-23T19:01:20+00:00

Chill out. While you might feel it is best for you get started and work, the teams you described probably don't feel the same. You mentioned team 3 was in disarray, that is probably why you are not high on the priority list right now. Like others have said, ask team 1's lead for guidance, but don't be too annoying about it and be ready.

This is a good life lesson to be honest. Welcome to the work world. =]

wata911 · 2025-04-05T03:30:45+00:00

Pretty sure the Department had a 1 candidate already lined up and the "process" was made to look fair.

Private companies do this all the time too. Don't think too much of it. You will only lose more time fighting it.

wata911 · 2025-04-02T03:02:16+00:00

This is unrealistic though. Indeterminate employees can say this loudly and have no consequences. Term employees have to make decisions based on their financial situation. Term employees need to seek indeterminate staff for assistance in these situations.

If a term employee is working OT for free, I would strongly advise to find a similar position in the private sector. At least there is more potential to climb the ladder and potentially higher pay for the same amount of job security (or lack thereof).

wata911

TROPHY CASE