What is in favor these days then, if you don't mind sharing?

The “song and dance” people. Don’t need to know your stuff cos with the frequent internal reshuffling, some senior people also do not know the correct questions to ask. Everybody is just looking for the next shiny thing.

sounds good, where can i sign up

The biggest problem with this organisation is that senior management is unaware of their own blind spots. They throw out lines that they are emphatic about the ever increasing workload while creating 101 unnecessary new projects. They do not realise that they are the ones creating the additional work in the first place and assume work is arising because of other factors. Every meeting has follow-ups or new work streams created.

Many times, the work created is a waste of time. Its predominantly some egoistical exercise for them to flex their arms.

Mid career switch - possible to get a pay bump at market rate?

Careers@gov. I got in to seek shelter during covid 19 and I've been enjoying excellent work life balance during work from home. :)

This is civil service. Your pay is at a discount to private sector. Unlikely you will see a bump unless your are currently underpaid.

I think the last sentence is really a bit too harsh. Humans are naturally curious, and this extends to all of us, including the management team. But curiosity should be grounded in reality. Thought experiments should remain as thought experiments unless you have the necessary resources to carry them out.

Some of the projects now, I would say, are akin to a General asking his medics to perform a commando raid on an enemy outpost. The medics are specialists in their fields, but they are clearly not trained as special forces. The General thinks this is not an issue, and simply request the medics to ask the commandos for some advice on how to perform the raid. He then expects the medics to perform the raid. Not only that, he still expects the medics to perform their medic duties at the same time while preparing for the raid. Such thinking is actually rather pervasive.

Maybe this is their so called thinking out of box or creativity? Non group-think mindset?
Having had a stint in CS, I can see similar patterns. One only need to look at the background/training of our ministers and the portfolios they are taking on…

Anyone gotten offer from MAS recently? Do they just match your last drawn (including bonus) to the dollar? or will there be slight increment?