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Federal Government Federal wages eclipse private sector - wage supression 101 Ripoff Washington DC
It's about time we began paying attention to the wage inequality of the government vs everyone else. And the fact that many politicians support MASSIVE immigration to keep YOUR wages low is a double insult. No wonder the politicians could care less about your wages and your benefits. It's not like if they get fired or voted out or resign they'll be without anything like you will if you lose a private sector job. THEY will continue right on with a pension AND benefits. Read on and be sickened:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0624fedsalaries0624.html
Federal wages eclipse private-sector pay
Earning top dollar from Uncle Sam
Jason Method
Asbury Park (N.J.) Press
Jun. 24, 2007 12:00 AM
Sometimes the easiest route to a high-paying job is to ask a wealthy relative to hire you.
For many, that relative is Uncle Sam.
Federal workers, on average, are paid almost 50 percent more than employees in the private sector, an Asbury Park Press analysis of salary data shows.
The average federal worker made $59,864 in 2005, compared with the average salary of $40,505 in the private sector, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And that pay gap appears to have widened in the first nine months of 2006, preliminary data show.
The gap may be driven by increased competition in the private sector, where globalization and technological advances have held salaries down.
Meanwhile, the federal workforce has no harsh business realities to face, said James Sherk, a labor policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington.
"The government doesn't have to worry about going bankrupt, and there isn't much competition," Sherk said.
In Arizona, the average annual salary for federal employees is $56,510, compared with the average annual private-sector pay of $37,706.
In Maricopa County, the average annual federal salary is $55,824, compared with the average private-sector pay of $40,202.
You don't have to run a federal agency to climb higher on the economic ladder.
More than half the workers in Martin County, Ind., for example, are employed at a Navy base that specializes in developing high-tech weaponry. The average $67,478 federal salary there is more than twice the average private-sector pay for that county.
Nationwide, there are 2.7 million federal civilian workers, compared with 113.8 million private-sector workers. The federal salary budget for civilians was $164 billion in 2005.
The Asbury Park Press analysis used salary information from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the more than 3,000 counties across the United States.
The analysis showed that:
Federal workers are paid twice to 5.6 times the private-sector average in 352 counties, many in states that border Canada and Mexico.
The area with the greatest federal-to-private pay disparity was Nassau County, Fla., near Jacksonville International Airport. There, 577 federal employees, many of them employed at an air traffic control center, were paid an average $108,275 in 2005. Some 14,000 private workers, many in the tourism and hospitality industries, were paid an average $29,602.
Where job titles could be compared, whether for engineers, doctors or food service workers, the federal government pays higher salaries than the private sector in three out of four cases.
In some cases, the federal government is the major employer in a county, accounting for more than half of the workforce.
Disparities between federal and private-sector pay are largest in rural areas. There, Border Patrol or defense industry positions clearly outstrip blue-collar jobs on farms or in mines and timber operations.
Private industry managers do make more than their federal counterparts in most cases. That's because many federal jobs are capped based on the president's $400,000 annual salary.
For example, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, who is in charge of all federal law enforcement in the state, earned $145,500 last year.
A top job in a law firm pays several times that salary.
Some workers have successfully converted their government experience into a more lucrative, private-sector venture.
Michael Beson, 41, of Neptune, N.J., a former aide to Rep. Frank J. Pallone Jr., D-N.J., now runs a job-openings newsletter. He said there are more opportunities to make money outside of government, even if government work comes with a sense of civic duty.
"No matter where you work in the government ... you help people out," Beson said.
"But you can definitely make more money in the private world.
"People in the federal government, I think, are making sacrifices," he said.
Harvard University labor economist John Donahue said that's not true for most workers. He said studies show federal pay and benefits are 3 percent to 15 percent higher than comparable positions in the private sector.
"We have two parallel economies: one is hyper-capitalism, and one is from the Eisenhower administration," Donahue said. "Government pays everybody the same, no matter their level of productivity. But the private sector pays people differently."
In the private sector, high pay is often limited to upper management, where salaries are much higher than for government work, Donahue said. That dissuades some talented professionals from working in public service, he said.
Experts say federal workers earn more on average than private-sector workers because they typically have more education and often are unionized.
Federal employees who start out making more than they would in the private sector also tend to stay in their jobs longer, which further widens the salary gap. Other reasons for their longevity: good health benefits and job security.
Donahue said federal jobs have become the preferred career choice for many workers as manufacturing and other jobs disappear.
"You have a lot of people sheltering in government from an inhospitable private economy," Donahue said.
The union representing 600,000 federal workers says those workers are underpaid by about 18 percent nationally when salaries are adjusted for education and job longevity.
But even if federal workers are paid more, that shouldn't be an issue, according to the American Federation of Government Employees.
"We do not apologize for the fact that the federal government makes sure its lowest-paid employees, who work full time year-round, don't live in poverty," said Jacqueline Simon, the union's public policy director. "The federal government is a model employer, as it should be."
Overall, high government salaries can be a drag on the economy if they attract rank-and-file workers who may be productive elsewhere, said Sherk of the Heritage Foundation.
"Wages are the way you allocate labor to what needs to get done," Sherk said. "But when government comes in and offers higher wages, then you mess up those economic signals. You direct workers to those occupations, to where their skills are less needed."
Cj
Tucson, Arizona
U.S.A.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0624fedsalaries0624.html
Federal wages eclipse private-sector pay
Earning top dollar from Uncle Sam
Jason Method
Asbury Park (N.J.) Press
Jun. 24, 2007 12:00 AM
Sometimes the easiest route to a high-paying job is to ask a wealthy relative to hire you.
For many, that relative is Uncle Sam.
Federal workers, on average, are paid almost 50 percent more than employees in the private sector, an Asbury Park Press analysis of salary data shows.
The average federal worker made $59,864 in 2005, compared with the average salary of $40,505 in the private sector, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And that pay gap appears to have widened in the first nine months of 2006, preliminary data show.
The gap may be driven by increased competition in the private sector, where globalization and technological advances have held salaries down.
Meanwhile, the federal workforce has no harsh business realities to face, said James Sherk, a labor policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington.
"The government doesn't have to worry about going bankrupt, and there isn't much competition," Sherk said.
In Arizona, the average annual salary for federal employees is $56,510, compared with the average annual private-sector pay of $37,706.
In Maricopa County, the average annual federal salary is $55,824, compared with the average private-sector pay of $40,202.
You don't have to run a federal agency to climb higher on the economic ladder.
More than half the workers in Martin County, Ind., for example, are employed at a Navy base that specializes in developing high-tech weaponry. The average $67,478 federal salary there is more than twice the average private-sector pay for that county.
Nationwide, there are 2.7 million federal civilian workers, compared with 113.8 million private-sector workers. The federal salary budget for civilians was $164 billion in 2005.
The Asbury Park Press analysis used salary information from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the more than 3,000 counties across the United States.
The analysis showed that:
Federal workers are paid twice to 5.6 times the private-sector average in 352 counties, many in states that border Canada and Mexico.
The area with the greatest federal-to-private pay disparity was Nassau County, Fla., near Jacksonville International Airport. There, 577 federal employees, many of them employed at an air traffic control center, were paid an average $108,275 in 2005. Some 14,000 private workers, many in the tourism and hospitality industries, were paid an average $29,602.
Where job titles could be compared, whether for engineers, doctors or food service workers, the federal government pays higher salaries than the private sector in three out of four cases.
In some cases, the federal government is the major employer in a county, accounting for more than half of the workforce.
Disparities between federal and private-sector pay are largest in rural areas. There, Border Patrol or defense industry positions clearly outstrip blue-collar jobs on farms or in mines and timber operations.
Private industry managers do make more than their federal counterparts in most cases. That's because many federal jobs are capped based on the president's $400,000 annual salary.
For example, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, who is in charge of all federal law enforcement in the state, earned $145,500 last year.
A top job in a law firm pays several times that salary.
Some workers have successfully converted their government experience into a more lucrative, private-sector venture.
Michael Beson, 41, of Neptune, N.J., a former aide to Rep. Frank J. Pallone Jr., D-N.J., now runs a job-openings newsletter. He said there are more opportunities to make money outside of government, even if government work comes with a sense of civic duty.
"No matter where you work in the government ... you help people out," Beson said.
"But you can definitely make more money in the private world.
"People in the federal government, I think, are making sacrifices," he said.
Harvard University labor economist John Donahue said that's not true for most workers. He said studies show federal pay and benefits are 3 percent to 15 percent higher than comparable positions in the private sector.
"We have two parallel economies: one is hyper-capitalism, and one is from the Eisenhower administration," Donahue said. "Government pays everybody the same, no matter their level of productivity. But the private sector pays people differently."
In the private sector, high pay is often limited to upper management, where salaries are much higher than for government work, Donahue said. That dissuades some talented professionals from working in public service, he said.
Experts say federal workers earn more on average than private-sector workers because they typically have more education and often are unionized.
Federal employees who start out making more than they would in the private sector also tend to stay in their jobs longer, which further widens the salary gap. Other reasons for their longevity: good health benefits and job security.
Donahue said federal jobs have become the preferred career choice for many workers as manufacturing and other jobs disappear.
"You have a lot of people sheltering in government from an inhospitable private economy," Donahue said.
The union representing 600,000 federal workers says those workers are underpaid by about 18 percent nationally when salaries are adjusted for education and job longevity.
But even if federal workers are paid more, that shouldn't be an issue, according to the American Federation of Government Employees.
"We do not apologize for the fact that the federal government makes sure its lowest-paid employees, who work full time year-round, don't live in poverty," said Jacqueline Simon, the union's public policy director. "The federal government is a model employer, as it should be."
Overall, high government salaries can be a drag on the economy if they attract rank-and-file workers who may be productive elsewhere, said Sherk of the Heritage Foundation.
"Wages are the way you allocate labor to what needs to get done," Sherk said. "But when government comes in and offers higher wages, then you mess up those economic signals. You direct workers to those occupations, to where their skills are less needed."
Cj
Tucson, Arizona
U.S.A.
