Frustrated with My Federal IT Job—Too Many Non-Tech Leads, No Real Work

I work in IT for a federal agency, and honestly, I’m beyond frustrated. About 80% of my team consists of non-technical staff leading technical projects. I spend more time teaching them Agile methodologies than actually doing the work. Meanwhile, they sit around, play trivia, and report on things they don’t even understand.

To make things worse, most funding is frozen, meaning there’s barely any work to do. Instead of using this downtime for skill-building or process improvements, they’re just coasting. With the government considering headcount reductions, many of them are shuffling into other teams just to stay employed. But I’m tired of this cycle.

I got into public service to do meaningful work, but dealing with bureaucratic inefficiency, leadership that doesn’t understand IT, and the overall lack of accountability is exhausting. At this point, I don’t see a future for myself in government IT. The private sector seems far more attractive.

Anyone else feel the same way? Is it worth sticking around for stability, or is it time to move on? Would love to hear from others who made the jump out of government IT.