Federal Pay: Myth and Realities

cato.org/ ^ | August 14, 2006 | Chris Edwards

[Tamar1973]

Another factor is the steadily increasing "locality" payments given to federal workers in higher-cost cities.

Large companies which have offices in multiple states like insurance companies, etc. have similar compensation polices. They have to do so to compete.

[Hong Kong Expat]

Privatization ain't going to make a difference. They have a strong union, and you can't outsource Air Traffic Controllers to India.

[Graybeard58]

The military is federal but I'm guessing that they were excluded from these figures, after all that would skew the desired results.

[hosepipe]

This is fiscally obscene...

[Notwithstanding]

Okay, lets make it simple for you since you didn't understand the first time:

Civilians on the federal payroll are overpaid.

This is a fact. Civil service workers have it quite good. They don't work very hard and they get paid well. And it is VERY hard to fire them.

And by the way, the military has similar problems other than salary (by this I mean that socialism is alive and well in the military).

[Notwithstanding]

I clarify: There is a "federal employee mindset" even in the military, and this is learned by soldiers from the civilian colleagues.

[Graybeard58]

Okay, lets make it simple for you since you didn't understand the first time:

Screw you and your rude attitude.

[presently no screen name]

:)

[kingu]

Privatization ain't going to make a difference. They have a strong union, and you can't outsource Air Traffic Controllers to India.

Ban the union. As for ATC in India - what's the difference with it being in India or Palmdale? It can be done anywhere now a days.

[durasell]

The nation's three largest private employers are

Wal-Mart Stores: 1.8 million employees.
McDonald’s: approx 400,000 employees.
United Parcel Service: about 370,000 employees.

[ozzymandus]

My parents urged me to apply for a government job. Foolishly, I didn't.

[Hong Kong Expat]

So much for the concept of free association? What's next banning churches?

[kingu]

Free association? There's absolutely nothing wrong with free association. You're free to gather with whomever you please. But just like gangs, there is a limit. Shaking down the American taxpayer is absolutely the limit.

Public service is public service, not a ticket to easy street, or at least that's how it should be. My first target would be removing anything beyond minimum wage for elected officials, then I'd start tearing through the enormous benefits and retirement packages for federal workers.

And just like free association is guaranteed, so is free speech. You've likely got a far different opinion than mine; I've seen where your opinion gets us - a bloated bureaucracy that is slothful and continues the largess for as long as the person lives.

Yeah, for real jobs, those that require years of education, I'd support benefits for them, but the average counter drone at the IRS pulls down twice the salary and three times the benefits of anyone else, and that's damn wasteful.

[Hong Kong Expat]

Shake down the taxpayer? We have the safest skies in the world, if we don't pay them six figures, Dubai will.

[rhombus]

My experience is that the BEST jobs are working for some form of Government and the strongest unions are the public employee unions. This forms the backbone of the Democratic party.

[durasell]

My experience is that the BEST jobs are working for some form of Government and the strongest unions are the public employee unions.




In my experience, the best jobs are those that require a highly specialized skill set or talent that pay really well in the private sector.

[rhombus]

In my experience, the best jobs are those that require a highly specialized skill set or talent that pay really well in the private sector.

Rock stars, movie stars and professional atheletes ;-) Can't argue that they don't receive the best pay. We can only argue on the definition of "talent".

[Poundstone]

I'm a federal worker and have been for more than twenty years. This article is a bit overblown, but I do believe our benefits are pretty good. My salary is decent and goes up steadily. I have a full defined-benefit pension indexed to inflation. My health insurance (the large majority of which is paid by the government) will stay with me in retirement.

That being said, the federal government employs a lot of well-educated, skilled workers. You have to give them a good compensation package if you want to retain them. That's how the market works, folks!

[durasell]

Hedge fund managers, lawyers, financial analysts...heck, I know one guy who designs packaging for bottled water and shampoo who takes home a quarter mil.