Federal pay far exceeds the norm

[zabet]

Federal pay far exceeds the norm

In this time of economic hardship, most Americans have had to tighten their belts and accept that their paychecks aren’t going to grow the way they want them to. Nearly everyone, that is, except for federal employees.

Most taxpayers — the people who pay federal salaries — are cutting every possible corner, but the folks who make their livings from those taxes are doing pretty well. Federal employees’ average compensation has grown to more than double what private sector workers earn.

And the gap is growing.

The average federal civil servant earned pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009, while private workers made $61,051 in total compensation, according to an analysis of federal data by USA Today. The federal compensation advantage has grown from $30,415 a decade ago to $61,998 last year.

And that’s not right.

More here: http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20100817/ARTICLES/8171000/1016/opinion02?Title=Federal-pay-far-exceeds-the-norm

[annabanana]

1. After decades of eschewing the high flying salaries of the private

sector for the relative security and low pay of the civil service they should all be thrown to the wolves for the nerve of preferring to serve the public...


nice.

[AnnieBW]

2. Apples and Oranges

The "average" Federal Employee is probably a GS-13 with over 20 years of service. So, that means that they'll be making over $100K. The government, thanks to the austerity measures of the Clinton and Bush years, hasn't really hired that many people at lower grades. Many of the people doing the lower-level work are now contractors, so they're technically in the private sector. The Federal government has outsourced a lot of it's IT and HR work, and gotten rid of office managers, etc. They tend to be in the lower grade levels.

Also, many Federal employees are in highly specialized fields where it would be very difficult to NOT work for the Government. For example, how many people in the private sector need someone who is fluent in Urdu? Besides Blackwater, that is. :D The CIA certainly does. Or the military.

[zabet]

6. From the article....

Unions that represent these federal employees say the gap in compensation reflects the high level of skill and education needed for most federal jobs and the fact that the government has contracted out more menial jobs to the private sector recently. “The data are not useful for a direct public-private pay comparison,” Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, told USA Today.

That reasoning, though, withers when you consider the fact that the federal government pays an average of 20 percent more than private firms for directly comparable occupations.

Years ago, people signed on to work for the federal government knowing that the pay wasn’t great but the jobs were secure and the benefits were superb. Now, we have created a situation where the benefits are still extraordinary and the work is still secure, but the pay is also extraordinary.

Adjusted for inflation, federal compensation has grown 37 percent since 2000. The compensation of private workers grew 9 percent over the same period. Federal workers have earned larger pay and benefit increases than private sector workers for nine years in a row.

[Unvanguard]

15. That's a non-response to the claim.

One that highlights the flaw in the author's reasoning.

The fact that two jobs have the same label doesn't mean that they have the same requirements, or that the people in them have comparable skill or education levels, or comparable seniority, or any number of other possible differences.

[Gormy Cuss]

20. It's about tenure and experience.

If the average outside of government were based on similar average tenures, I'd bet that government employees were paid less.


eta: IMHO, when the government is paying career workers better than the private job market, the problem is with salaries in the latter not the former.

[w4rma]

3. I'm glad someone is making good wages. How about we push private wages UP to meet them. (nt)

[JanMichael]

5. Agreed. nt.

[Canuckistanian]

11. Absolutely

I think public sector wages should be the EXAMPLE of fair compensation.

[Rage for Order]

12. That's crazy talk there

If we do that we'll lose the race to the bottom. Nobody likes a loser.

[JanMichael]

4. As an example of how the comparison sucks...there were around 30k HUD employees in 1980.

There are around 8k now. Most private sector jobs have flopped from manufacturing (decent pay good benefits) to service/retail (mediocre pay shitty or non-existent benefits).

Plus the longevity is higher in government due to them not playing with employee cuts all of the time when things get ugly while the private sector screws "its" employees/workers constantly.

??

[Bitwit1234]

7. Do you know how salaries are based..

Unlike the private sector where a pay raise is the whim of the boss, in federal pay you get a pay raise each year unless you are terrible. Then when you get to a certain place you go to higher grades etc. The private sector because THEY CAN are not giving raises or are giving very very small ones and telling people it is because of the recession.

[msongs]

8. the link is an opinion piece - suspect the numbers nt

[Bonhomme Richard]

9. I hate this crap. Rather than talk about raising the income level...

of the private sector to where it should be they want to drive all income down. Except, of course, theirs. To have the people fight amongst themselves always benefits the uber-rich.
And no, I don't have a federal job.

[dkf]

23. We've got too many people for too few jobs and you think that helps increase salaries?

What economic school does that come out of?

[Canuckistanian]

10. So?

Why should federal employees have to lower their expectations? Did they do anything wrong?

I thought this financial meltdown was caused by the PRIVATE sector.

Federal worker pay SHOULD be the "gold standard". And private companies should adjust their pay scales accordingly.

If a company isn't doing well, they have a right to ask their workers to accept less pay in order to benefit the company. And only temporarily.

But that ISN'T the case with government workers.

[OmahaBlueDog]

13. Part of that is that they are concentrated highly in a very high cost of living area

Move the capitol to Omaha or Sioux Falls

[Swede]

14. You should be worried about the millionaires and billionaires

skimming every cent out of the common folk.

[doc03]

16. There was an article in the USA paper Monday

about how military wages have increased over the last 10 years. According to it the areas around military bases are among the highest income levels in the country. They said the average military pay is around $120,000 a year when the value of free health-care housing assistance and all the other perks are added in. They said their income was more than double the average civilian taxpayer's.

On edit: It just occurred to me the article in the op and the one in the USA use the identical figures only on is about the (civilian) federal workers and the other is about the (military) something seems fishy here.

[CreekDog]

17. what about pay for federal contractors?

there are so many more of them than federal employees, that if you are really interested in saving money, you'd focus there first.

take NASA for example, there are typically over 20 private employees for each federal NASA employee who must oversee their work.

should that oversight position pay half what it pays now?

[CreekDog]

18. What's better for Americans like yourself?

If the scientist who regulates BP is paid a lot less than his counterparts there, OR

if that scientist has his pay cut by half and still is asked to regulate them as effectively?

what's better for you?

[doc03]

19. That is nearly the same article that appeared in the Monday

USA paper using the the exact same figures only it was about military pay. Something is very fishy here, I wonder who is behind it. They gave several examples of how areas surrounding military bases were now among the highest per capita incomes in the country.

[nashville_brook]

22. the area around Clarksville is completely depressed = 101st airborne

but, around San Diego, where there's lots of mil contractor-barons...diff story.

[tsuki]

21. Okay, so we have attacked the unions, the parents, the teachers, the state workers,

now the federal workers, next the military? Wonder who the last Neimöller will be?

[w4rma]

24. The group of people most needed to force everyone in line will be last. (nt)