Public Versus Private Employees: A Perspective on the Characteristics and Implications

Abstract

'You’re fired!' Infamous words spoken by Donald Trump from prime-time television to the White House. Trump, businessman turned politician, has carried over his characteristics from the private sector to the public sector. Are Americans experiencing the Trump effect or is this a result of the businessman turned politician effect? From work motivation to demographics, this commentary highlights key characteristics and associated implications about the public sector and the private sector employees by discussing the following questions: What are the characteristics of the public and private sector employees? What are the implications of these characteristics? Specifically, public service motivation, organizational, commitment, level of effort, intrinsic factors, job content, pay, job security, and work-life balance are discussed. Review of the literature suggests that while similarities do exist between the public sector and private sector employees, there are sufficient characteristic differences that warrant supporting Appleby’s (1945) doctrine that government employees are indeed different.