[bwc2221]

In the private sector, if a company don't do well the employees are the first to take the hit: layoffs, salary freezes, pay and benefits reductions.

In the federal government, the employees feel no paih.

I have read several articles recently that the average federal government employee makes $71k and the average private sector employee $41k.

[El Gato]

Even in the federal government, at least in the military departments, there are RIFs, reductions in force, for both military and civil servants. Generally civil servants find other positions in either the DoD or some other agency, but the military generally go out the door, because they actually conduct a “select out”, in an attempt to release the lowest performing individuals (by grade of course). AFAIK the civil servants just get their position eliminated, and the occupant is cut loose to find something else, regardless of the competency of that “incumbent”.