Wow. "When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees had salaries above $170,000." http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-12-10-federal-pay-salaries_N.htm For feds, more get 6-figure salaries Updated 12/11/2009 12:15 PM | Comments 1,791 | Recommend 143 E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | PUBLIC GAIN, PRIVATE PAIN By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY The number of federal workers earning six-figure salaries has exploded during the recession, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal salary data. Federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% of civil servants during the recession's first 18 months — and that's before overtime pay and bonuses are counted. Federal workers are enjoying an extraordinary boom time — in pay and hiring — during a recession that has cost 7.3 million jobs in the private sector. The highest-paid federal employees are doing best of all on salary increases. Defense Department civilian employees earning $150,000 or more increased from 1,868 in December 2007 to 10,100 in June 2009, the most recent figure available. When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees had salaries above $170,000. The trend to six-figure salaries is occurring throughout the federal government, in agencies big and small, high-tech and low-tech. The primary cause: substantial pay raises and new salary rules. "There's no way to justify this to the American people. It's ridiculous," says Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a first-term lawmaker who is on the House's federal workforce subcommittee. Jessica Klement, government affairs director for the Federal Managers Association, says the federal workforce is highly paid because the government employs skilled people such as scientists, physicians and lawyers. She says federal employees make 26% less than private workers for comparable jobs. USA TODAY analyzed the Office of Personnel Management's database that tracks salaries of more than 2 million federal workers. Excluded from OPM's data: the White House, Congress, the Postal Service, intelligence agencies and uniformed military personnel. The growth in six-figure salaries has pushed the average federal worker's pay to $71,206, compared with $40,331 in the private sector. Key reasons for the boom in six-figure salaries: • Pay hikes. Then-president Bush recommended — and Congress approved — across-the-board raises of 3% in January 2008 and 3.9% in January 2009. President Obama has recommended 2% pay raises in January 2010, the smallest since 1975. Most federal workers also get longevity pay hikes — called steps — that average 1.5% per year. •New pay system. Congress created a new National Security Pay Scale for the Defense Department to reward merit, in addition to the across-the-board increases. The merit raises, which started in January 2008, were larger than expected and rewarded high-ranking employees. In October, Congress voted to end the new pay scale by 2012. • Paycaps eased. Many top civil servants are prohibited from making more than an agency's leader. But if Congress lifts the boss' salary, others get raises, too. When the Federal Aviation Administration chief's salary rose, nearly 1,700 employees' had their salaries lifted above $170,000, too.
A friend worked as a Lawyer for the US Patent office for a year and a half out of law school. He took over 2 months off during those 18 months and then left to the private sector and sorely wants to return to government duty. You're almost un-fireable in the government. Many times sections will simply promote someone instead of firing them to get them out of their section. That is just sad. Its like anti-darwinism.
You have to read this article really closely. First, the percentage of employees making over $100K going from 14% to 19%, that seems like a lot but what were most of those people making before? $90K $95K $99k? as far as average pay being higher than the private sector, its not like you have a lot of minimum wage federal jobs factored into the equation.
The security, benefits and relaxed nature of government jobs should come with an equivalent significant discount in salary. In a time period when we are in a deflationary economy or at best an economy in which consumer goods/housing/automobiles/luxury goods etc. are falling at an extremely aggressive rate, I think its ridiculous to have huge government increases in salary.
How much are you willing to pay somebody to figure out why an airplane crashed or to sign off on bridge construction? How much are you willing to pay somebody to regulate hazardous materials transport or look at safety issues related to 18-wheelers? What about train safety or port infrastructure? You think all these things are being done by some 10th grade dropout you see working at the DMV? The Transportation Department is there for a reason... it's essentially the backbone to our real economy... and they are the descendants of the first real regulatory agency, the Steamboat Inspection Service, formed when steamboat boilers kept exploding and killing large numbers of passengers. And may I remind folks that the primary reason it is difficult (not at all impossible... just dial up some p*rn on your government computer) to fire civil servants is to insulate them from political whims.
In my office, most of our wildland firefighters start out between $11 and $13 an hour and are only allowed to work for 4-6 months. A handful of clerks make similar amounts. We have a small number of people who make in the $30K range doing campground maintenance, warehouse management, etc. After that, it's a predominantly degreed workforce... biologists, archaeologists, engineers, land law examiners, recreational planners, etc. Most fall into the $50k to $80K range. We have one person out of 220 who makes 6 figures as base pay, but we're a low-graded agency.
exactly, contrary to the canned complaints about government jobs, some of these people actually have difficult jobs
Do these numbers only rely on base salary, or do they include the often times substantial benefit packages with government jobs?
Its the aggregate growth in salaries from New Hires, promotions and then the across the board increases. Most companies are cutting salaries, freezing raises and eliminating bonuses / 401k matches, yet the government is doing the opposite.
They did cut the rate of increase to half for this year. They will probably cut it off to zero next year.
Do you have any evidence for this? The article you posted says that pay raises were the lowest since 1975.
Not so fast. Did anybody notice this part of the posted article: [rquoter]She says federal employees make 26% less than private workers for comparable jobs.[/rquoter]
