It isn't where I work, a the Yuma Proving Ground for the US Army. 20 years ago we were nearly all Government workers, my Team had 20 people, and there were few contractors. Now, we are down to 9 people, we produce four times as much product (mostly because of automation), and more than half the workers on post are contractors.
Also, the trend in Government employees is for people with scientific and engineering degrees.
So, as far as I see, there is some truth to this assertion.
Are the government workers overpaid... I often think so. We do get generous benefits, but they are nowhere as generous as those paid to General Motors employees, which I think are outrageous.
..... I have no doubt that your statement is completely accurate. But my guess is that you and your colleagues at YPG are probably somewhere in the 90th percentile group in terms of education and skill sets. The question in my mind is what proportion of our 2 million-odd (?) federal employees possess training and skill sets that command compensation so substantially greater than that offered in the private sector? one in twenty? one in fifty? one in a hundred? How many post graduate degree holders work at Fannie Mae sorting mortgages for instance? With the AVERAGE federal employeee compensation DOUBLE that of the private sector, statistics inescapably suggest (to me at any rate) that the lower end of the federal employee spectrum is very well compensated indeed.