City and County of San Francisco FAQ

Benefits are great, and you’re working for the betterment of our city—not just lining the pockets of the 1% /Venture Capitalists. Some managers/department heads really understand the need to modernize and move processes forward, and working on those projects definitely makes me feel like my work is making a difference.

Hiring process for full-time employment is lengthy, opaque, and seems far too arbitrarily specific in many cases. There’s a lot of calcified employees and departments worth of unbelievable inefficiencies. So that’s either fertile ground for improvement or a lot of banging your head against the brick walls set up to thwart any kind of change. Things just happen at a slower pace here.

Make ongoing learning and skill development a part of the ongoing operations in each department. Keeping everyone’s skill sets more current and useful together, mingling the older employees with the newer ones not only helps everyone get on the same page, but also helps to facilitate intergenerational transfer of institutional knowledge that should be passed down. Make employee “off-boarding” an integral component of work life - documenting how a role functions, jobs get done, processes and procedures and more all through the employee’s tenure so that it’s not rushed at the end or just neglected completely.

Decent healthcare benefits, decent union

Low pay, low prestige, low-brow, and unsophisticated managers and coworkers. Bullying and unfair treatment towards some types of employees. I saw a manager stereotype a potential candidate and choose a white male over him. Then the white male was passed over in favor of an internal candidate!

Live up to SF's "world-class," inclusive, diverse, cutting-edge image. Higher pay/prestige will attract more sophisticated, smart employees. Stop stereotyping and stigmatizing job candidates. Pick the one with the most merit, not whoever you like best based on your own preferences and biases. Treat all employees with the same level of fairness, empathy, and respect. Stop the childish bullying, belittling, and stereotyping.

Pay is good for government. Health and retirement benefits are solid.

Toxic employees and management who will not stand up to them. Management is more focused on politics than supporting the ongoing work of the department.

Get rid of bad employees who are working the system.

Salary pays well relative to the cost of living

No vacation time for first year

Good benefits, pension, room to grow/ upward mobility, lots of holidays off.

Wish they provided snacks and sleeping pods like google or uber.