Pay gap a thing of the past?

One reader response to our “Freezing out feds” post maintains that the “pay gap” between private-sector and federal jobs is an outdated notion—perhaps valid 10 years ago, but no longer true today—especially when factoring in the value of federal benefits.

Many years ago, during my own brief experience working in a federal contract shop, some of my peers told me they planned to stick around in government only long enough to rotate through contracting, procurement and logistics so they could take those new skills to a higher-paying private-sector job.

The gap also seemed to be around several years later when my wife left 10 years of federal service behind to make 50 percent more in the private sector.

I’m curious to know if feds today think that the pay gap is no more.