Budget pressures have made provincial government (at least this government's) public sector very lean in terms of staffing. There is very little opportunity --I've found--for personal development and political/budget priorities seem to overcome the development of people assets. Unlike the private sector, it hasn't quite occurred to government that this would be a good idea? (or they try and just don't know how to do it).
Also the hiring process is based on rigid concepts of "that you've done that exact job previously". Even when postings imply that equivalent experience is acceptable, it is nothing like the private sector where the idea of "transferable" skills is paramount.
This may be seen as a "pro" to some, as it is related to the security and "fairness" of hiring procedures. In reality, in my opinion, it results in trapping people in jobs and drives those with ambition to leave for the private sector.
Lastly, budget pressures have compressed the compensation so that increasingly, opportunities are lower and lower classified. In other words, higher level of responsibility and knowledge in some ministries is under paid. Executives still do well, but not compared to private. Its a trade off of security for ambition.
In general, the executives are not always the highest skilled, but those who hve survived the longest.
