Re: "But are they competent enough?"
Part of that, apologies for the politics, is, _IMHO_, directly linked to union membership. On one side, seniority is paramount there and there is no incentive for a worker to leave, one of the main ways folks acquire new skills: by varying jobs. On the other side, you can’t layoff an insufficiently or inappropriately skilled unionized employee and your pay scales may not allow retaining star employees.
In most cases, heavy public sector unionization is “just” an extra cost burden on tax payers. With IT, due to its ever-changing underpinnings, it’s a real barrier to having skills in-house.
P.s. just to be clear: I am not against unions in dangerous occupations or in industries where the employer/employee relationship tends to predatory employers. Neither remotely applies to the public sector.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
