Government Workers Take Break From Regulating to Carve Jack-o’-Lanterns
Chris Butler /
NASHVILLE—Halloween is fast approaching. And at the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, officials want to boost morale by teaching workers to carve jack-o’-lanterns.
Why are employees of a taxpayer-subsidized agency worrying themselves with pumpkins?
Agency spokesman Eric Ward said Michael’s Arts and Crafts employees are offering the free demonstration to agency employees during lunch breaks.
“These are fun activities intended to build camaraderie among employees,” Ward said. “I hope that you would consider the fact that employee engagement and workplace culture are common ingredients to productive and efficient workplaces.”
The agency’s Office of Talent Management, which is supposed to help employees with team development, recruitment and professional goals, is helping with the demonstration, Ward said.
Ward would not answer specific questions as to how many employees this particular branch of the Department of Environment and Conservation has or how much money taxpayers allocate to it every year.
Earlier this year, sources inside the TDEC suggesting management received negative feedback on an employee happiness survey, but agency officials downplayed those concerns. The agency would not disclose results of the employee survey measuring whether employees were glad to go to work.
Justin Owen, president of the free-market Beacon Center of Tennessee, said TDEC plays one of the biggest roles of any state agency in regulating the state’s businesses.
“If its employees have so much free time to socialize and play on the Internet, the department should be shrunk, and taxpayer money returned to our pockets,” Owen said. “Tennessee businesses should not have to face unnecessary hurdles just so bureaucrats can justify their positions.”