This is a real issue btw, I think it's globalized but we have it a lot in France. People love abusing any power they have on you, they love telling you no and that you're wrong and they know better.
The other issue is that public service employees tend to be huge slackers, and when you have the misfortune of ending up in a situation that requires multiple people working together, you'll be probably there for a few weeks because they can't go further than their own desk.
When I was coming back from Canada, I had to remake my social security card since it was transferred to Canada (through an official transfer that made me eligible to the Canadian social security). But in France, no one knew how that worked, and I basically spent two months calling them weekly for updates (with various people telling me contradictory things) before someone finally went ahead and made sure all the necessities were taken care of.
I frankly hate dealing with French public services and avoid it like the plague.
Why is that so? I’ve seen it in literally every single country I’ve had to deal with the authorities across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Even in countries we like to call progressive (eg Finland, Estonia) the public service workers are so much slower than their compatriots in the private sector. (Even though they are still much faster than the lethargic dinosaurs you meet in Germany)
Lack of competition, governments get money (almost) regardless of how shit they are. It really kills incentive when the money shows up no matter what.
When a project falls through in the private sector, it can be existential for the workers or at least make their lives difficult in the future (anyone who has worked for a cash constrained business knows it just generally sucks).
When a "project" falls through in the government, oh well, see ya tomorrow.
Comments
This is a real issue btw, I think it's globalized but we have it a lot in France. People love abusing any power they have on you, they love telling you no and that you're wrong and they know better.
The other issue is that public service employees tend to be huge slackers, and when you have the misfortune of ending up in a situation that requires multiple people working together, you'll be probably there for a few weeks because they can't go further than their own desk.
When I was coming back from Canada, I had to remake my social security card since it was transferred to Canada (through an official transfer that made me eligible to the Canadian social security). But in France, no one knew how that worked, and I basically spent two months calling them weekly for updates (with various people telling me contradictory things) before someone finally went ahead and made sure all the necessities were taken care of.
I frankly hate dealing with French public services and avoid it like the plague.
Why is that so? I’ve seen it in literally every single country I’ve had to deal with the authorities across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Even in countries we like to call progressive (eg Finland, Estonia) the public service workers are so much slower than their compatriots in the private sector. (Even though they are still much faster than the lethargic dinosaurs you meet in Germany)
Lack of competition, governments get money (almost) regardless of how shit they are. It really kills incentive when the money shows up no matter what.
When a project falls through in the private sector, it can be existential for the workers or at least make their lives difficult in the future (anyone who has worked for a cash constrained business knows it just generally sucks).
When a "project" falls through in the government, oh well, see ya tomorrow.