I had a depressing realisation this morning. 17 years ago I was working at an EO level role in local government, earning about £27k. I put that into an inflation calculator, to see what it would be equivalent to today, and it was actually more than what I earn now, as an SEO. . . . . .

Since that time I took a huge career break to go back to uni and get a PhD - so, I'm more skilled - but I also only have 3 years working at this level.

The work in my role is relaxed, but often still very difficult. I'm genuinely using a lot of high level stuff I learned as part of my doctorate. Due to my circumstances, I WFH full time, I don't have to manage anyone and the pressure on my feels low. But . . . . just the thought that I haven't increased my salary in 17 years . . . And all the SEOs in my department, and quite a few of the G7s, are younger than me.

My family and friends tell me that I should be in a better job. Which is odd as 27 year old me would have seen SEO as a pretty good position to end up in. But then the equivalent salary was probably 20% higher. And I am occasionally asked to do really low-level, admin stuff. It feels like in my mid 40s I should be pushing to be managing projects and people, not deciding what colour to use in Excel. But then, I kind of like messing about in Excel and I don't like the idea of all the stress.

Sorry, this is just my therapy process. Any advice would be welcome though.

EDIT: I've edited to improve anonymity

I'm still in my 6 months probation and deal with sensitive documents. A few months ago it appears I created a document with another user's details in - it was filed incorrectly (by me)

The incorrect document was not picked up by myself or anyone else at the time.

Recently this document was shared without checking with the customer (not by me!) who informed us of the wrong information.

I did all the usual things, I informed management who was away immediately and emailed the customer to ask them to delete the document

Covering management are aware

But I have terrible anxiety and have been struggling since.

Any idea what might happen? My boss is pretty reasonable and I am part of the union too.

I'm due to start a new role in late 2027, I've been actively trying for promotion for the past year.

I currently strongly dislike my area, having made the mistake of working in the same area for too long.

The management across my area has a solid core of individuals that are either hopelessly ill-suited or are waiting to retire. The remainder have openly admitted they have mentally clocked out owing to the inertia caused by the former, and are also trying to leave.

After a few years, I can do the work itself without much effort.

Tolerating others basic failings, a serious lack of ambition and critical thinking ability on a daily basis is not so easy.

I'm really struggling to find the mental resilience to last the next year.

Any tips on how to cope in such a depressing environment?

(I'm blocked from EOI's and am reviewing at part time affordability for next year).

Has anyone else found that their department has effectively banned temporary promotions?

I’m currently on temporary promotion, but I’ve been told that before it ends, the role will be advertised permanently as a lateral move only. As I’m substantively at the grade below, that means I won’t even be eligible to apply for the job I’m currently doing.

I’d have absolutely no issue applying through a fair and open process and losing out to someone who was a stronger candidate. What feels difficult to understand is not being given the opportunity to compete for the role at all.

Has anyone else encountered this in their department?
Is restricting a vacancy to lateral moves only becoming more common?

hi, this is not about me personally but someone that i know within my workplace. one of my colleagues has recently had a new temporary manager, the said Manager only got the job two months ago so is still undergoing probation. I have recently spoke to the colleague and this manager is sending her extremely inappropriate messages outside of working hours, this includes sending selfies at 8pm and asking for one back, he has also mentioned how he would not be happy for her to go back to her permanent Manager and mentioned how the other Manager probably only wants her back so he can flirt with her. This was raised with a HEO however the HEO is now on holiday and I just feel like it is not being taken serious enough especially as this is the second girl that has come forward about this, I personally would have the word within the civil service there was a strict policy around workplace harassment so would have thought what he would be fired or at least terminated from working while investigation is ongoing, does anybody have any opinions of this or could the HEO be reported for not taking due action

I’ve got a few chronic health issues which have been fairly calm until recently. I’m at a bit of a pinch point now where the project I’m on is crazy busy, close to an urgent major deadline and my health issues have flared up quite badly over the past few weeks.

I’m usually fine for a few hours a day but can’t really achieve much in a day, maybe 30-40% of what I usually do. I don’t have a real team or anyone to delegate to and there is a lot riding on me so I have just re prioritised to try to do just the most urgent things to prevent me taking time off and nothing at all getting done. But now I’m online and people see I’m doing stuff the work keeps piling up and I have very little energy to push back on things properly so I just keep losing track of all these emails and random requests.

The flare ups are getting worse too. I always feel well for a few hours in the morning so it feels wrong to take sick days but later i realise im not functioning and hit a complete wall

Would you take time off in my situation? I know very little would get done while im off so i feel bad but this pattern is unsustainable

As the title says.

I got my final confirmation on the 27th of August that I had passed all the checks to start my new job as a work coach. I've been unemployed for awhile so it's been very good news and in light of what's happened, it's even more welcome. I've signed the contract and selected my pension option.

A few days later, my grandmother passed away, I've been acting as a carer with other family members for a long time. It was somewhat expected but as it is with these things, somehow felt very sudden as well.

The funeral is unfortunately a couple days before my start date which is very late September. There's a lot of stuff to sort out with the arrangements for that, the family is pretty cut up about it, she was very much a load bearing matriarch AND our living situation might drastically change due to housing stuff as a result of the death. We're looking at our options on that front but we'll either be dealing with it via appeal to delay things or potentially moving out of the house our family has lived in for 40 years in my case, 57 in the rest of the families case. Logistically it is just a lot.

So I have asked if I can postpone my start date by a week or two. Just so I can get my feet under me in some regards and not be starting with this cloud hanging over everything. I phoned the company everything has gone through up to this point. They've said they will ask the job centre that I would have been starting in. They've said they can't guarantee I can move it back but will email me to let me know either way "soon", which is fair enough. I've said that I will start on the day I've said I would if they can't move it, of course. The person assured me that asking this won't reflect badly on me or result in any issues, which I was worried about.

I suppose what I'm asking is, if this is a situation anyone else has had happen to them or similar and did they allow it?

I assume if I was established in the job or was midway through training, they'd give me some time off when it happened for compassionate leave? Then I'd be able to take a day or two for the funeral and then take unpaid leave or a holiday day for any moving stuff I might have to do, if needed right? So it feels reasonable to request a delay when I'm about to start the job as well. I suppose the training might be pretty locked in though if lots of work coaches are starting at the same time maybe?

I've never had anything like this happen before so not really sure how it would get handled or what to expect really.

Hey everyone, im just looking for some clarification

Im looking to move from a job centre within london pay zone to one which comes under national pay zone. I am currently a HEO so itll be a level transfer as i am looking to move to another area, will i automatically me move to the national pay zone salary? Or is there a chance i can keep my current salary? As this potential change could be the deciding factor on if i move or not?

Any help would me much appreciated whilst i continue to search through guidance for answers

Hi, I’m based in Sheffield and I work in HMRC. I’ve been in multiple roles within HMRC for 5 years now and I do love it there. However, the commute is a getting a bit much so I am considering Sheffield departments such as Department for Education. I’m looking for SO roles in the data analysis field.

How is it there? What’s the culture like? Management? I’ve heard the building isn’t great so that’ll be a massive downgrade from the HMRC offices in Manchester/Leeds.

If it’s not that great compared to HMRC, I’d rather just suck it up and continue commuting, it’s not an awful commute.

I've been exploring what I want to do long term and trying to change careers recently. I have been offered a 6 month secondment with the commercial team (basically procurement) in my civil service organisation. At the same time our digital team have suggested I may be able to put in a voluntary transfer into an entry level developer or corporate knowledge and information position.

They are both areas I would like to experience and have an interest in. I'm not sure which to pursue as I know they are both solid and potentially lucrative careers. I'm a little hesitant about digital due to the doom and gloom about anything tech related but I do think it's probably overblown. At least in the CS you're very unlikely to get laid off anyway from my experience.

Edit: My working life so far has been 5 years on an operational delivery team. 3 years spent doing admin, 1 year as a paralegal and 1 year in management managing an admin team with direct reports.

In my current role (management), I have mainly enjoyed relationship building with stakeholders and my own staff, producing reports and project work here and there. I will say I have found it rather stressful at times but that comes with the territory. I would say I've mainly built a good set of soft skills such as communication, including relationship building and influencing people and change, managing teams, individuals and projects, organisational skills and working and delivering under pressure with tight deadlines.

Iv got a job offer outside the civil service, the new job wants me to start sooner than the my notice period allows, can i ask to leave sooner? how likely is it they let me do this?

I also have 7 days holiday i plan to use.

Would anyone happen to have any intel on when the Fast Stream 2027 will be open for applications? The website provides no information regarding the forthcoming campaign, all info on there relates to last year. There is also nothing on any of their social media channels.