Public sector can be stressful. Depending on the agency you are in, working hours is very long and you handle a wide scope of work + CCAs such as committees, study teams, etc. Though official hours is 8.30am to 6pm, some of us are here at work before 8am and without fail everyday, by 9.30pm most of us are still in office. The official working hours tend to be filled with meetings, discussions, responding to queries and feedback from bosses/staff. The work starts after 6pm. Not uncommon for meetings to start at 7.30pm as well. Your job description may state the general items, but you end up doing other works as well and each year, to justify for your increment and bonuses, you have to think of new initiatives and projects to do. The initiative you did in 2013 will then become regular work and add on to your other duties in 2014 while you think of new initiatives for 2014. Time spent on CCAs can be very long, and CCAs do not mean social club. They are working committees and task forces. Most of us ended up coming back to office on weekends or work at home. Even during leave, we would spend some time working at home, and we have to respond to bosses' calls 24-7. Me, my colleagues, friends and husband who work in different agencies all experienced phone calls from bosses on weekends (as late as 11pm) and while we were on overseas holidays. Some of us even have to go back office on Saturday at 11pm just to work on a reply that bosses want immediately. When we look at the submissions we put up, we can also see bosses approving papers on public holidays and at wee hours like 4am. So do consider carefully if this is what you want.