One Man's Recession is a Another Man's Ticket to a 6 Figure Salary

Merkinball · Dec 13, 2009

What do you folks feel about this? Do we need more information? Is it justified? Should there be limits on salary growth during a recession? Should government sector pay be tied to some metric of the private sector?

For feds, more get 6-figure salaries
Average pay $30,000 over private sector
By Dennis Cauchon
USA TODAY

The number of federal workers earning six-figure salaries has exploded during the recession, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal salary data.

Federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% of civil servants during the recession's first 18 months and that's before overtime pay and bonuses are counted.

Federal workers are enjoying an extraordinary boom time in pay and hiring during a recession that has cost 7.3 million jobs in the private sector.

The highest-paid federal employees are doing best of all on salary increases. Defense Department civilian employees earning $150,000 or more increased from 1,868 in December 2007 to 10,100 in June 2009, the most recent figure available.

When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees had salaries above $170,000.

The trend to six-figure salaries is occurring throughout the federal government, in agencies big and small, high-tech and low-tech. The primary cause: substantial pay raises and new salary rules.

"There's no way to justify this to the American people. It's ridiculous," says Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a first-term lawmaker who is on the House's federal workforce subcommittee.

Jessica Klement, government affairs director for the Federal Managers Association, says the federal workforce is highly paid because the government employs skilled people such as scientists, physicians and lawyers. She says federal employees make 26% less than private workers for comparable jobs.

USA TODAY analyzed the Office of Personnel Management's database that tracks salaries of more than 2 million federal workers. Excluded from OPM's data: the White House, Congress, the Postal Service, intelligence agencies and uniformed military personnel.

The growth in six-figure salaries has pushed the average federal worker's pay to $71,206, compared with $40,331 in the private sector.

Key reasons for the boom in six-figure salaries:

Pay hikes. Then-president Bush recommended and Congress approved across-the-board raises of 3% in January 2008 and 3.9% in January 2009. President Obama has recommended 2% pay raises in January 2010, the smallest since 1975. Most federal workers also get longevity pay hikes called steps that average 1.5% per year.

New pay system. Congress created a new National Security Personnel System for the Defense Department to reward merit, in addition to the across-the-board increases. The merit raises, which started in January 2008, were larger than expected and rewarded high-ranking employees. In October, Congress voted to end the new pay scale by 2012.

Pay caps eased. Many top civil servants are prohibited from making more than an agency's leader. But if Congress lifts the boss' salary, others get raises, too. When the Federal Aviation Administration chief's salary rose, nearly 1,700 employees' had their salaries lifted above $170,000, too.

MobBoss · Dec 13, 2009

Heard about this on the radio Friday. Apparently, it doesnt include the military. If it did, the average would go down significantly.

amadeus · Dec 13, 2009

Let's take a minute to thank all of our public servants for the sacrifices they make to serve us ordinary citizens.

MobBoss · Dec 13, 2009

amadeus said:
Let's take a minute to thank all of our public service for the sacrifices they make to serve us ordinary citizens.

You're welcome!

SS-18 ICBM · Dec 13, 2009

Public administrators and corporate executives earning six-figure salaries on the backs of taxpayers and shareholders, respectively. It's all the same crap.

Gilder · Dec 13, 2009

The government is usually a pretty sweet paying gig.

I'm surprised it doesn't include elected officials like Senators and other Congressmen and women.

Riffraff · Dec 13, 2009

How does this look if you factor out education/work experience?

I doubt the government jobs would still be leading..

Mise · Dec 13, 2009

When the deficit and public debt are that high, a responsible government would limit public sector pay rises and bonuses. It would be nice to know what the overall wage bill for public sector workers is, on a like-for-like basis. None of the figures are particularly illuminating.

ArneHD · Dec 13, 2009

What's the source, incidentally?

SS-18 ICBM · Dec 13, 2009

USA Today, allegedly. Cannot confirm without a link.

emzie · Dec 13, 2009

I imagine that the government employs a higher percentage of college graduates than the population at large.

DaveShack · Dec 13, 2009

Add a new department and you'll get this kind of effect without even trying. Just imagine what would happen to the pay averages if the insurance industry were taken over. :eek:

I find the numbers questionable. Last time I checked, top government salaries were limited to the base house/senate pay which was 150K. The president and VP are the only ones who are supposed to make more. Maybe they're talking about income from all sources.

Kerozine · Dec 13, 2009

"There's no way to justify this to the American people. It's ridiculous," says Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a first-term lawmaker who is on the House's federal workforce subcommittee.

Jessica Klement, government affairs director for the Federal Managers Association, says the federal workforce is highly paid because the government employs skilled people such as scientists, physicians and lawyers. She says federal employees make 26% less than private workers for comparable jobs.

Even in the context of a recession, the trade-off is job security I would imagine. Along with other reasons mentioned in the article, it seems justified.

Quackers · Dec 13, 2009

This is what happens when you vote in an OBAMINATION!

bathsheba666 · Dec 13, 2009

The wording of the OP title suggests that the 6 figure salaries have been somehow suddenly created by the recession.
I have to say I missed the reasoning for this bit of misdirection.

Karalysia · Dec 13, 2009

I support this. The government workers actually deserve their salaries unlike the worthless private sector CEO's who have only destroyed their companies and the economy along with it, they deserve the gallows. The government is the one that saved the economy from collapse.

sonorakitch · Dec 13, 2009

Karalysia said:
I support this. The government workers actually deserve their salaries...

You've obviously never worked with a federal employee.

SS-18 ICBM · Dec 13, 2009

No, he worships them.

Karalysia · Dec 13, 2009

sonorakitch said:
You've obviously never worked with a federal employee.

Have to protect my interest (future worthless federal employee here).

emzie · Dec 13, 2009

sonorakitch said:
You've obviously never worked with a federal employee.

I've lived with one. A branch director for the Department of Justice. She left that job because returning to work as a state prosecutor paid something like 40-50% more -- and as much as prosecutors do for society, she did more for the country when she worked with Ashcroft.

One Man's Recession is a Another Man's Ticket to a 6 Figure Salary

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