Create a 10-word scroll-stopping headline for: Why is every NC agency always "understaffed" but somehow still bad at their job? | Vibe NC

Genuine question. I've lived in five states and none were this bad at basic government stuff while also being weirdly defensive about it.

Secretary of State, contractors licensing board, attorney general, taxation, DMV, doesn't matter which one. You email, nothing. You call, "we're short staffed." You push back a little and suddenly they're annoyed at you for asking, get defensive.

Fine, understaffed, I hear that a lot. But here's the thing, the state auditor found something like 8,800+ long term vacant positions across NC agencies, and those empty jobs left over a billion dollars in unspent salary money sitting there. So it's not that the legislature didn't fund the positions. The money existed. Nobody filled the seats.

So what's actually going on. Bad pay so nobody wants the jobs? Hiring freezes? Just bad management? I pay fees every time I deal with these offices, it's not like they're running on nothing.

Curious if anyone here actually understands why this keeps happening or if we're all just supposed to accept it.

EDIT 1: By the way, one of the other states was Florida. Diehard republican. And they have EXCELLENT state services. Respectful to their voters and taxpayers. This is NOT a republican phenomena. It's NC specific.

EDIT 2: The consistent commentary below suggests the state doesn't pay enough. By this logic, it would seem only people who can't get a job somewhere else is working for the state at the sub-par pay. Because, well, they have no where else to go. That seems to explain part of the reason for the terrible attitudes and performance.