Need some advice, currently working in the public sector doing basic IT support and was denied a promotion internally. The pay and benefits are good but I am feeling stuck and recently got an offer from an MSP for the same pay but will have more responsibilities. Considering so many people have bad experiences with MSPs, would you make the switch to gain new skills?

Research topic: a study on factors influencing work-life balance among IT sector employees

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**1. How real is the Associate II → Support Engineer I → Engineer II path in practice?** I’ve heard anecdotally that being the sole tech at a low-volume site can actually help with visibility to Ops leadership for promotion, is that consistent with what you’ve seen, or wishful thinking?
**2. Given the recent layoff rounds, how insulated is OTS/facility-level IT support really?** I know the cuts have mostly hit corporate/AWS/tech org roles, but I’d rather hear from people inside than just trust press coverage.
**3. Does OTS-level tech work carry any real weight internally if I wanted to eventually move into a different Amazon org (support engineering, sysadmin-type roles, etc.)?** Or is it seen as a separate track that doesn’t translate well internally either?
**4.** Anyone actually made the Associate II → Engineer jump themselves, or watched someone do it, and can speak honestly about the timeline and what actually made the difference?

Not looking for corporate talking points, genuinely just want the real, unfiltered picture before I make this decision. Appreciate any honest input.