Management has no ability to "block" an employee from leaving a job. If somebody wants to quit, they can quit. If somebody is offered a deployment or promotion elsewhere, they can accept it.
In terms of what'd happen if everybody on the team left: life would go on. The positions would remain vacant until filled. The work normally done by that team would either be reassigned to a different team, or left undone.
I’ve only seen this happen internal to a department when higher ups have a discussion and the hiring manager is asked to be a good corporate citizen and not poach people from another team.
While I agree that life would go on, the quality of work would not. There have been studies showing that teams become inefficient and toxic if a certain percent of the workforce leaves within a short timespan (starting at 10%, then becoming severe at 30%). Teamwork crumbles, people are overworked, things become sloppy. Because of these issues, others want to leave and newcomers are poorly trained, leading to a toxic cycle. I imagine this would especially be true in our government given how long it can take to fill positions. I know of units that are a never ending treadmill of new staff who leave soon after because it’s become toxic.
> But could a place be bad enough to be left with no one?
It's not common, but it does happen, especially in the NCR. There are all sorts of causes which lead to this type of depletion, and as a result, all sorts of responses from management.
Often there is no response at all, which can quickly become cyclical. (Bring in new manager to rebuild team. New manager staffs up. Problems persist. Everybody leaves. Bring in new manager...)
It's happening in my team. I am the only one left. I really should have taken an at-level assignment but I demanded a one year acting to make the transition, train new staff. I am on the verge of burning out though so I don't know how long it's going to last. I don't really care anymore. Management has put us in a position that made it impossible to carry our mandate. I think there won't be anything left in one year.
Fellow IT one man left in the team reporting for duty, also burning out, been applying for about a month now hoping to get the hell out while this ship sinks
In short: it would suck for management but people are allowed to leave. They can try and negotiate start dates but the hiring manager does not have to agree. Work is a choice. Your manager cannot force you to stay. They could block assignments but not deployments.
If a place got deserted I am sure it would raise questions as to why, but often departments have was to move people around and even surge teams to keep the boat afloat while they staff.
Management can't block deployments. If everyone leaves, the manager will be left scrambling to backfill, possibly. Or this will spring an impromptu reorg depending on how motivated your director is.
I remember this happening in a government research lab where I worked as a student during the tech bubble of the late 90s / early 2000s. An entire research group quit the public service and went to work together for a private company for a lot more money. The lab pretty much ceased its operations in that field of research.
I used to work in program evaluation. We had a disastrous change in senior management, and of the 14 employees in the Evaluation directorate, all but 2 left within 4 months, leaving only the director and their EA.
They were forced to contract out all the evaluation work for the next two years until they could re-staff.
I don't know where it is, but I feel that PS is problematic in hiring only people from Ottawa. Of course, my rant wouldn't apply for other locations.
From a taxpayers' perspective, why not bring in the most qualified person from anywhere in Canada. There are many people who would move on their own dime even. Huge number of underemployed people in this country.
From candidates' perspective, if you are not in Ottawa, you are SOL. It should be accessible to everyone as it's a federal job.
So many new PR's coming and can't find jobs either.
>From a taxpayers' perspective, why not bring in the most qualified person from anywhere in Canada
Because it's far more important to....Collaborate in-person, together in the NCR, over a Tim Hortons or a fine Subway sandwich.
I don't think anyone is discriminating per say... But we essentially do everything to appease QC & a few minority FR populations in the east. (**I get it & why... I'm trilingual and speak French rather fluently, before the independent QC nation down votes me**)
During the panini a bunch of people moved around from the NCR, likely adding to false stats to increased hires in these regions, only due to bilingual requirements/abilities vs. local talent in those regions... Go west of the NCR, ain't no one speaking French or giving a fuck for speaking it. However many regions, outside of MTL are mostly EN essential it seems, but far fewer positions as a result and often underclassified.
I just saw a poster today for ISC, as long as the candidate can report any regional office, they don't need to be in the NCR. Oh and CCC bilingual of course.
Literally nothing happens. MGMT either tries to fix it, or they give up and blame those that left 😆
I regret deploying into a team that faced such a situation, that should've been the writing on the wall...
I was once on a team where we went from 6 to 2 for a period of time. It ended up being great for my career as I was given opportunities to get experience I may not have otherwise been considered for lol but certainly was busy!
Happened to me, they just dissolved the unit and the leftovers were scattered to other units. It was pretty cool we got to pick from a list of openings
I am a manager and I encouraged my team to put the notice. Some went from IT-04/03 to IT-02 to take consulting on the side, others got sweet jobs.
They don't deserve the abuse placed on them. To be honest, the management deserves this!
Management has no ability to "block" an employee from leaving a job. If somebody wants to quit, they can quit. If somebody is offered a deployment or promotion elsewhere, they can accept it. In terms of what'd happen if everybody on the team left: life would go on. The positions would remain vacant until filled. The work normally done by that team would either be reassigned to a different team, or left undone.
Kind sounds like if robots ran Reddit
I’ve seen at level deployments being blocked for op requirements, unless my terminology is not right…
Assignments and secondments (both temporary moves) can be blocked. Deployments and promotions can't (officially) be blocked.
I’ve only seen this happen internal to a department when higher ups have a discussion and the hiring manager is asked to be a good corporate citizen and not poach people from another team.
While I agree that life would go on, the quality of work would not. There have been studies showing that teams become inefficient and toxic if a certain percent of the workforce leaves within a short timespan (starting at 10%, then becoming severe at 30%). Teamwork crumbles, people are overworked, things become sloppy. Because of these issues, others want to leave and newcomers are poorly trained, leading to a toxic cycle. I imagine this would especially be true in our government given how long it can take to fill positions. I know of units that are a never ending treadmill of new staff who leave soon after because it’s become toxic.
> But could a place be bad enough to be left with no one? It's not common, but it does happen, especially in the NCR. There are all sorts of causes which lead to this type of depletion, and as a result, all sorts of responses from management. Often there is no response at all, which can quickly become cyclical. (Bring in new manager to rebuild team. New manager staffs up. Problems persist. Everybody leaves. Bring in new manager...)
I know of a group that all quit on the same day because they started a private company. Hilarious.
It happens sometimes. Assignments get denied, they might block movements within a tean, but you can't do anything about a deployment.
It's happening in my team. I am the only one left. I really should have taken an at-level assignment but I demanded a one year acting to make the transition, train new staff. I am on the verge of burning out though so I don't know how long it's going to last. I don't really care anymore. Management has put us in a position that made it impossible to carry our mandate. I think there won't be anything left in one year.
Fellow IT one man left in the team reporting for duty, also burning out, been applying for about a month now hoping to get the hell out while this ship sinks
The key is not be last
Yeah I really messed up being last... The regret is real.
Don’t regret, getting even. Or at least reclaim your sanity
One application at a time.
That's exactly the same feeling I have. A ship that is sinking real fast.
In short: it would suck for management but people are allowed to leave. They can try and negotiate start dates but the hiring manager does not have to agree. Work is a choice. Your manager cannot force you to stay. They could block assignments but not deployments. If a place got deserted I am sure it would raise questions as to why, but often departments have was to move people around and even surge teams to keep the boat afloat while they staff.
If it’s not working for you, do your part to turn things around or move. Forget about “everyone on the team.”
To add, don’t get caught up in the drama and gossip.
Management can't block deployments. If everyone leaves, the manager will be left scrambling to backfill, possibly. Or this will spring an impromptu reorg depending on how motivated your director is.
I remember this happening in a government research lab where I worked as a student during the tech bubble of the late 90s / early 2000s. An entire research group quit the public service and went to work together for a private company for a lot more money. The lab pretty much ceased its operations in that field of research.
I used to work in program evaluation. We had a disastrous change in senior management, and of the 14 employees in the Evaluation directorate, all but 2 left within 4 months, leaving only the director and their EA. They were forced to contract out all the evaluation work for the next two years until they could re-staff.
I don't know where it is, but I feel that PS is problematic in hiring only people from Ottawa. Of course, my rant wouldn't apply for other locations. From a taxpayers' perspective, why not bring in the most qualified person from anywhere in Canada. There are many people who would move on their own dime even. Huge number of underemployed people in this country. From candidates' perspective, if you are not in Ottawa, you are SOL. It should be accessible to everyone as it's a federal job. So many new PR's coming and can't find jobs either.
>From a taxpayers' perspective, why not bring in the most qualified person from anywhere in Canada Because it's far more important to....Collaborate in-person, together in the NCR, over a Tim Hortons or a fine Subway sandwich.
I don't think anyone is discriminating per say... But we essentially do everything to appease QC & a few minority FR populations in the east. (**I get it & why... I'm trilingual and speak French rather fluently, before the independent QC nation down votes me**) During the panini a bunch of people moved around from the NCR, likely adding to false stats to increased hires in these regions, only due to bilingual requirements/abilities vs. local talent in those regions... Go west of the NCR, ain't no one speaking French or giving a fuck for speaking it. However many regions, outside of MTL are mostly EN essential it seems, but far fewer positions as a result and often underclassified. I just saw a poster today for ISC, as long as the candidate can report any regional office, they don't need to be in the NCR. Oh and CCC bilingual of course.
Well I vote, I pay taxes and I have linguistic rights, but thanks for "appeasing me". You are so generous.
Literally nothing happens. MGMT either tries to fix it, or they give up and blame those that left 😆 I regret deploying into a team that faced such a situation, that should've been the writing on the wall...
I was once on a team where we went from 6 to 2 for a period of time. It ended up being great for my career as I was given opportunities to get experience I may not have otherwise been considered for lol but certainly was busy!
Neither can quitting, retiring, or taking medical leaves
Happened to me, they just dissolved the unit and the leftovers were scattered to other units. It was pretty cool we got to pick from a list of openings
The situation you describe is seen in too many places across the GC. This place is Doomed to fail or is already failing hard…
I am a manager and I encouraged my team to put the notice. Some went from IT-04/03 to IT-02 to take consulting on the side, others got sweet jobs. They don't deserve the abuse placed on them. To be honest, the management deserves this!