I worked at the Federal Reserve for some time, so I know that the culture is as toxic as the article says it to be. Professionally, this experience has been the most aggravating of my career.
Oh, let me tell you about the laziness! One of the developers I worked with would come to work at 11 am every single day and leave at 5 PM—sharp. He would then take a two hour lunch break.
It wouldn’t be so bad if he actually did some work, but there was none. I remember vividly this one incident: we were trying hard to meet a deadline and he was responsible for an important component. Every week, he would paint a rosy picture of his progress, saying he was THIS close to finishing the project. The week of the deadline comes and it’s time for him to lay down his cards—and surprise, surprise—there was no working code! All he produced was a jumbling mishmash of code that had no hope of working.
I spent the next week in the office writing this component.
Close to 70 hours. Unreal.
[Oh yeah, this guy was getting paid $130K, not to mention those sweet government bennies!]
His direct manager would complain about him all the time, and many meetings were asking him to improve his output. And yet, he was never punished. The truth is, when it comes to working at the Federal Reserve, your work output is not as important as who your friends are. And this guy had friends in high(er) places.
This guy is just one employee, but I believe it is just endemic of the kind of culture the Fed breeds. One of nepotism, of indolence, of apathy. I am truly scared for the future of this country knowing that these are the people behind the wheel.