Posted on 11/11/2008 12:51:01 PM PST by Poundstone
The 3.9% pay raise is an average. We have gotten comments from readers complaining that our projected pay rates for 2009 do not show a 3.9% increase for their city or town. An average means that some will get more than 3.9% and some will get less. The base pay rate increase for 2009 is less than 3.9%. The 3.9% average is reached by taking into account locality pay rates. This means that some federal employees in some areas will get less because they are not in a locality pay area.
(Excerpt) Read more at fedsmith.com ...
Ah! There's the attitude I expected! It's like a scratch-off lottery ticket that always pays.
My suggestion is damn it man, make your words true! Quit the FedGov and really see what the open market will gain you. Be a free citizen, not a sinecure. If truth is worth anything to you, we'll all be better off.
Notice he hasn't been back to his own thread.
Rhetorical bomb-thrower.
“We all make decisions based upon what is best for us and our families. If my decision irks you, well that’s just too bad.”
I have certain skills that I think are needed around the beltway, but I have everything I personally need and want here in PA (except for Republican governor and US Senators). The same thing happened to me that happened to you...but I do like my job. I travel too much though, but that’s okay. I’m not in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Companies everywhere are pushing back increases as well in order to conserve cash during this economic downturn.
What do you do? What is your specialty?
This is not a trick question.
Wow...I'm not really sure how to respond to that without being a real a$$ about it, so I won't.
As a career PRIVATE SECTOR employee, my salary is currently capped at $38,500, the top level “ Next year it should STAY THE SAME, I’m bummed!
I am glad for your good fortune as a career FS employee and I am glad that you are a conservative in the ranks of a workforce predominantly leftist.
Your pay and benefits in the DC metro are certainly not at the very top of the scale but you should be cognizant of the fact that they are much higher than a similar state job in Topeka, KS for instance. That is even taking into account the differences in COL in the two area.
The historical wage-push in the 30s and 40s as the size of the Federal government ramped up to get people to live in the swamps of DC is an historic fact you aren’t responsible for but should be sensitive about.
With relatives in government service and a boyhood friend at the top of the ladder with DOJ, I bear you no animosity, but keep a little perspective with thousands being laid off nationwide due to economic times.
I notice that few fedgov employees take on risks that they can dump off to contractors. And there you are -- hold the CONTRACTORS responsible! Ever see a fellow sinecure holder held to account? Like losing a fedgov only gym privilege for a week or two, at least? You want to bang him and everyone working with him, yet what fedgov section has ever been banged? You're quite the gent.
Get back to me when the federal government gives you equal salary and benefits that an equivalent ranked soldier gets. If you can make more money in private industry, work for private industry. The government shouldn’t compete with private industry in any shape or form, much less in salaries.
“You complain about that salary while serviceman are over in Iraq making 20,000...sheesh!!!”
That’s kind of comparing apples and oranges. A lot of servicemen make more than 20k depending on rank. Furthermore you have to add in the benefits they get such as free medical care, housing, family benefits, and veteran’s benefits, so it is actually considerably more. The 149,000 pay is only attained by the most senior government employees in the Senior Executive Service and is no more than senior military officers get serving in Iraq or anywhere else for that matter. A more realistic salary for a government worker in an executive position in Washington DC is between 80 to 100k, which considering the cost of living is more like 50 to 60K in most of the rest of the country.
I'll be the first to admit there are some government employees who are nothing more than oxygen thieves. But, Professor, do you really believe that payroll is the largest area of wasteful government spending? Or the most deserving target of spending cuts?
I’ll admit it. I’m a hypocrite. If I had my way, the agency I work for would not exist.
But, I’m too old to start from zero again. I have a family depending on me and a mortgage to pay. Plus, I had several jobs before this one (I started college late at age 26 when I grew tired of being a roofer) and I learned that no matter what the salary, if you have a hard time getting along with coworkers it isn’t worth it.
And the people I work with are anything but the cliche of the “federal employee.” These are supremely dedicated, hard working, highly intelligent and motivated people who also happen to be easy to get along with. It’s hard to leave such people, at my age anyway.
Well, you could refute my statement.
(I notice you didn’t.)
He didn't say he was paid the top level salary.
If YOU don’t like working for federal employees as a private contractor, then find something else to do. I don’t care. My Monday was spent handholding a contractor, who, although a retired commander, was afraid to take the leadership role and it impacted our progress greatly. Another contractor provided DHS with the wrong specifications to cite on another project, meaning she has to now take time to do a contract mod = more time = more money to the taxpayer. So sorry you don’t think we’re doing OUR job.
I also have no idea what you mean by this: “And there you are — hold the CONTRACTORS responsible! Ever see a fellow sinecure holder held to account? Like losing a fedgov only gym privilege for a week or two, at least? You want to bang him and everyone working with him, yet what fedgov section has ever been banged? You’re quite the gent.”
It’s a poorly written sentence, so if you were writing a proposal, I would not be able to evaluate this, as I have no idea what it means. Why are you talking about gyms? I go to a female only gym and not in DC.
What's truly interesting is how the attitudes of the same individual change when they go from being a contractor to being a government employee. My company has provided about 45% of our Customer's workforce over the last 12 years. Once they've gone to the dark side (friendly rivalry, guys) our folks slowly become unrecognizable.
A very good point for any business students lurking - my office went from three people to one (in one area) by automating a repetitive task tracking function.
He said, "I have a family depending on me and a mortgage to pay. I've got to save for my kids college tuitions."
Same as you. He was in his fifties. I was young and had very marketable skills. But after that my attitude changed, I never used my family's welfare as an excuse for taking on "any" work. Almost, that is. I managed to convince myself that getting into debt collections for a notorious company was okay. That was a big mistake, and it cost me my health for the stress. I thank G-d it DID stress me out to the point of breaking my health, though. Better that than working for such a bad outfit. Now I'm better than before and out of that outfit. Good all around.
Every non-military government employee should be bypassing “raises” based on cost of living adjustments because of this economic mess.
Most businesses are not raising salaries this year. Therefore most government employees shouldn’t see raises either.
Frankly I don’t care how much this joker gets paid, because any “government employee” that is also in a union works against this countrys best interests.
Government employee unions are the one protesting at every level of government any time budgets NEED to be cut. It is the “weight” of these unions that keep driving our country further and further into the red.
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