GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT

Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Congress said someone may steal from it at night; so they created a night watchman, GS-4 position, and hired a person for the job.

Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning division and hired two (2) people, one person to write the instructions (GS-12) and one person to do time studies (GS-11).

Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a quality control (QC) division and hired two (2) people, one (GS-9) to do the studies and one (GS-11) to write the reports.

Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So they created a payroll division with a time keeper (GS-9) and a payroll officer (GS-11), and hired two (2) people.

Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?" So they created an administrative division and hired three (3) people: an Admin Officer (GM-13), Assistant Admin Officer (GS-13), and a Legal Secretary (GS-8).

Then, one year later, Congress reviewed the operation of the desert scrap yard and said, "We have had this command in operation for one year and we are $18,000 over budget. We must cut back overall costs!" So they eliminated the night watchman.