More Attacks on Federal Pay
Another <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/income/2010-08-10-1Afedpay10_ST_N.htm">article</a> in <em>USA Today</em> again claims that federal pay is significantly higher than private sector pay. Federal employees have been awarded bigger average pay and benefit increases than private employees for nine years consecutive years, forcing the compensation gap to double over the past decade, the article states.
Another article in USA Today again claims that federal pay is significantly higher than private sector pay. Federal employees have been awarded bigger average pay and benefit increases than private employees for nine years consecutive years, forcing the compensation gap to double over the past decade, the article states.
Civil servants earned average pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009, while private sector workers made an average of $61,051 in total compensation and benefits, according to a USA Today analysis.
In May, I blogged about a report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers that found that IT graduates are seeing much higher salaries in their private sector entry-level jobs. For example, graduates earning computer science degrees received starting salaries of $60,426 this year, NACE found. That's definitely higher or comparable to what federal IT workers, many of whom have graduate degrees, would earn at the GS-7 or GS-9 pay levels. So are USA Today's attacks on federal workers, particularly those with advanced degrees and such specialized skills as IT and cybersecurity, fair?