During the 2005 Legislature, Utah lawmakers took over management of their own new building and the multimillion-dollar parking lot underneath the Capitol plaza. During the 45-day session, of course, the spaces were filled with legislators' cars. But now, the concrete structure is so vacant it echoes.

Until the next legislative session starts in January, few will park there. Rank-and-file workers, meantime, are relegated to park on the cramped shoulders of the city streets that circle Capitol Hill and in two crowded lots on each side of the State Office Building.

Many state employees take the empty parking lot personally. They see it as the final insult from a legislative session and governor's transition that have left them feeling battered and bruised, their benefits cut, their jobs in jeopardy. Many are considering retiring before the end of the year or seeking employment elsewhere.

"We had job security and good retirement benefits," says Greg Shoop, a 30-year state information technology worker. "But the incentive to stay just isn't here anymore. Why would I work for the state of Utah for less money?"

Shoop is considering retiring early and applying for jobs at Wal-Mart and Home Depot to tide him over into retirement.

He is not alone. Corrections department managers predict a mass exodus as dozens of longtime employees retire early so they won't lose medical benefits - a new policy adopted by lawmakers this year. In Shoop's department, many workers are considering private-sector jobs as Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. continues his makeover of state government.

"We're all just wondering what's next," said one state worker, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.

This year has not been kind to Utah's 25,000 employees. Afraid new accounting standards would jeopardize the state's credit rating, lawmakers decided to discontinue a generous state worker retirement benefit. Right now, state employees can trade accumulated sick leave to pay for post-retirement medical benefits - eight hours of sick leave for one month of insurance coverage. After Jan. 1, 2006, state workers will be required to deposit 25 percent of the value of their banked sick leave into a 401(k) account and the rest could be traded to medical benefits, but at a reduced rate.

Workers blanketed lawmakers with e-mails and crowded into committee rooms during the legislative session to oppose the change. Lawmakers let them have their say in meetings. But after a flier lobbying against the legislation was posted in a state elevator, they were warned not to tape up any "handbills, leaflets, advertising or other printed materials."

Huntsman quickly and quietly signed the sick-leave bill before the legislative session ended.

Legislators also rubber-stamped Huntsman's transition plans, approving radical changes to the Community and Economic Development Department, closing the Utah Energy Office, shifting human resources workers into another department and consolidating information technology employees under one department. While lawmakers tried to protect so-called "merit" state employees moved as part of Huntsman's restructuring, those protections are not guaranteed. Many state employees are nervously considering their career options.

At the same time, lawmakers didn't touch their own rich retirement benefit - full medical coverage for part-time members and their spouses after 10 years in the Legislature.

"Morale is at a new low among state employees," said Mark Jones, an administrator with the state courts.

Legislators and the governor point to an across-the-board 2.5 percent pay raise for state workers this year as proof of their good will.

"I have deep respect for state employees," Huntsman said. "I consider them as colleagues, not necessarily line workers . . . But I have a fiduciary obligation to the state. I'm trying to do my best in balancing the interests we have."

But after three years of budget slashing and an even longer stretch with no raises for some employees, workers say the bump is too little too late.

The Utah Public Employees Association, which has unsuccessfully sought a meeting with the governor since he took office, is considering suing to challenge the change in the sick-leave policy.

Short of a lawsuit, state workers say they will no longer save their sick days - cutting into state efficiency. Other older, higher-paid employees who planned to retire early say they can't. Their salaries, they figure, will reduce the state's ability to hire new, energetic workers.

Like Shoop, Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. John Jones says after 32 years in state government he is considering his options.

"It's a kick in the teeth," said 56-year-old Jones. "I'm not working for private industry. If I wanted to work for Kennecott, I would be. I expected to be treated differently."