Archive | February 27, 2009

ex-High Techies in the Federal Government

February 27, 2009 by Brian Hurley 2 Comments

After this blog entry I was immediately asked about the challenges those ex-techies who joined the Federal government have found.   Here is a quick summary of what I’ve been told:

  • Being under-employed/under-challenged (compared to their personal perceived capability)
  • Being discouraged from working excessive hours (one individual told me about a situation where a co-worker took them aside and asked them to stop working long hours because it was making the rest of them look bad  – however all other individuals I know said they had never experienced this type of behavior and in fact noted that people in their departments tended to work more then the regular work hours as a matter of course)
  • Really, really bad employees who are passed from department to department like a hot potato (these employees typically know how to exploit the various government union and HR policies to effectively do nothing and avoid being fired and consume vast amounts of their managers time and reputation in the process)
  • Political wars and games where each department was working to position themselves for projects they expect to see funded

In Nortel, I personally experienced:

  • Being under-employed/under-challenged (only when working on a  product transitioning to legacy support  – when this happened I usually changed jobs)
  • Being given really, really bad employees as part of a new project team (who I first mentored/worked with to help them develop missing skills or cultural awareness, and if that failed (only on one occasion) I put them into the HR process leading to termination/transfer to a job with a better fit)
  • Political wars and games where each department was working to position themselves for projects they expect to see funded

Anyone else from High Tech who ended up in the Federal government have observations to contribute?

Business, Canada, Canadian Politics, General Interest, Government, Government Policy, Information Technology, Innovation, Nortel, Ottawa
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Canadian Federal Government Employee Stereotypes

February 27, 2009 by Brian Hurley 1 Comment

The stereotypical government employee is usually characterized as “lazy”, “inefficient”, “in by 9 out by 4″.

With the tech downturn, a lot of people I know ended up in the government.  The general consensus among the ex-tech people who ended up in the government is that yes,  there are pockets of poor performers and demoralized individuals – but by and large – the majority of government employees are motivated and engaged in doing the best job they can.  The other observation of the ex-tech people inside the government is that the internal politics are very similar (although more pronounced in some departments more then others!) to the politics that they encountered inside Nortel.

On a personal level, my observations and experiences with Federal government employees include:

  • I have made submissions and worked with the NRC-IRAP team over the years.   I have found the NRC-IRAP team in general to be top-notch from the executives down to the ITA’s – they recognize the importance of their role in the future of Canada tech development and they work as an engaged and committed partner.
  • Stats Canada produces high quality research reports that I have found to be very insightful and valuable in supporting my various market analysis activities over the years.
  • The Passport office is a model of efficiency and customer orientation.  When I look back to the first passport I got compared to the last one a few years ago – they have made massive improvements.  In general I have found they are increasingly efficient and customer service oriented.    The last time I went in to get my renewed passport – in-spite of a full waiting room of people – I was in and out in less then 30 minutes.   I personally like the way they introduced an option for a taxpayer to pay extra for expedited services.
  • On the e-Government side, e.g. making it easy to find information and access services online, the government continues to make improvements year over year.   I have always been able to find the information I need online.   As an aside – I believe our government’s expertise in e-Government is a area we should be looking to export/develop into commercial businesses.

Politicians aside, in general it is my opinion that we have a pretty good group of people working for us in the Federal government.

Best practices, Business, Canada, Canadian Politics, Economy, General Interest, Government, Government Policy, Innovation, Jobs, Microbusiness, Opportunities, Ottawa, Stats Canada, Trends, Unemployment, Web 2.0
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The Face of Canada is Changing

February 27, 2009 by Brian Hurley 0 Comments

Stats Canada published a report in December 2008 – “Immigrant Economic and Social Outcomes in Canada“, that called out some interesting facts, including:

  • One in five persons living in Canada is foreign born
  • In Toronto, almost half of the population is foreign born

Census statistics from 2001 provides a broader overview of immigrant origin in Canada:

immigrant-population

I personally believe this is a great advantage for Canada.  The more ties we have with other countries, the more likely that business relationships will be developed.

Best practices, Business, Canada, Canadian Politics, Creative Class, Economy, Entreprenuerism, Europe, Government, Government Policy, Innovation, Jobs, Manufacturing, Marketing, Microbusiness, Ontario, Opportunities, Ottawa, Regional Economic Development, Stats Canada, Trends, Unemployment
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The Next Crisis – Ballooning National Debt?

February 27, 2009 by Brian Hurley 1 Comment

United States Federal Debt as a % of GDP

As of Sept 30 2008, the US national debt was estimated to be $10 Trillion. This is roughly $35,469 per US taxpayer. The debt is continuing to grow in the wake of the increasing size of the stimulus budget items.

Canadian Federal Debt as % of GDP

As of February 2009, the federal debt stands at roughly $458-billion.  This is roughly $13,685 per Canadian taxpayer. This is an upward trend with the recent federal budget, which reduces the debt reduction activities of past government budgets.

Who Owns the US National Debt?

The view from an independent analysis based on January 2007 data:

The view from the US Federal government for Sept 2008:World National Debt by % of GDP (2007 from CIA estimates)

Business, Canada, Canadian Politics, Economy, Government, Government Policy, Jobs, Manufacturing, Ottawa, Stats Canada, Trends, Unemployment, United States, US, US Politics
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