At a time when workers' pay and benefits have stagnated, federal employees' average compensation has grown to more than double what private sector workers earn, a USA TODAY analysis finds.
Federal workers have been awarded bigger average pay and benefit increases than private employees for nine years in a row. The compensation gap between federal and private workers has doubled in the past decade.
Federal civil servants earned average pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009 while private workers made $61,051 in total compensation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The data are the latest available.
The federal compensation advantage has grown from $30,415 in 2000 to $61,998 last year.
Public employee unions say the compensation gap reflects the increasingly high level of skill and education required for most federal jobs and the government contracting out lower-paid jobs to the private sector in recent years.
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6 comments:
Just to add a little perspective:
I am a young government scientist. It has taken 10 years of post HS education to become qualified for my position. I have a set of skills that a majority of the population lacks. The same can be said for my colleagues. We all show up ready to work early in the morning and spend most of our days working till late.
Now I know that there are bad apples out there that lend credensce to the "gov. employee" jokes, but the majority of us are out here working hard to serve the tax payers while utilizing unique skill sets. If you check out any of the gov. websites for NOAA (Nat. Weather Serv., NOAA Fisheries) you can see for yourself the abundance of information products that are being generated with your tax dollars. Throw on top of that the fact that so many of the pharmeceuticals and health information that we utilize today, didn't start in a private lab. It was the ground work by scientists at NIH and other public institutions that answered most of the questions that allow private companies to develop new products. When you think of gov. employees, you also need to think of all the advancements brought to us through the work done at NASA.
My point is that most gov. employees are out here doing there best to give you the biggest bang for your buck. I'm all for spending cuts and belt tightening. But we need to go into this with clear minds and factual analysis, not a idealogical/class warfare state of mind.
Get over yourself the private sector runs circles around you . The private sector got their experience in half the time !
75% of the people employeed at Wallops Island are dumb as a stump. That place should be shut down.
10:45 LOL. Cant speak on Wallops.
9:40 do not take my comments as being disparaging to the private sector. My point is that the success we have seen in this country is largely due to a strong working relationship between the private and public sector. You don't have to look any farther than the highways and shipping channels that private sector-sold products are transported on to see this.
Ultimately what we need is a reality check and some tough love for all interests groups. Cut out the hyperbole, fearmongering, and misinformation. Lets get back (if we were ever there) to strong debates of ideals, policies, and ideas. Not nip picking over whether trips to Spain or Crawford are ok, or who you would rather drink a beer with. And lets find leaders who are less interested in the 24 hr. news chatter and more interested in actually making positive moves.
9:16
For the government scientist:
Your point is well taken and well received. I for one do not doubt that you work hard and deserve your paycheck.
The other side of the coin is this: Our government has taken over our economy. We as Americans can no longer engage in any human enterprise without the government having a hand or stake in it. We have become a Socialist country. We are taxed so heavily that regular people cannot engage in private economy.
That is the problem many of us see with the huge government. It is simply too big.
Let's get one thing straight. Government DOES look out for Government. Next year, OC plans payroll cuts to TRAM employees while raising fees to passengers next year. They also plan to raise Bus fares. There is no word about Town management pay cuts Why?
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