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Federal Employees' Wages Growing Faster Than Everybody Else’s

P

PokerGuy

Lifer
Federal employees on average make more than private sector ones and have much better benefits. That's not new or a surprise.
Federal civilian workers had an average wage of $84,153 in 2014, compared to an average in the private sector of $56,350. The federal advantage in overall compensation (wages plus benefits) is even greater. Federal compensation averaged $119,934 in 2014, which was 78 percent higher than the private-sector average of $67,246.
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What is interesting is that those higher wages and benefits are now also rising faster than the private sector ones.

The latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) show that wages rose 2.9 percent in the federal government in 2014, on average, compared to 1.7 percent in the private sector.
When benefits such as pensions and health care are included, federal compensation increased 2.8 percent, on average, compared to 1.3 percent in the private sector.
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https://reason.com/blog/2015/10/08/federal-employees-wages-growing-faster-t

Not sure what to make of this. Does it make sense to have the wages that are paid for using tax dollars increasing faster than the wages for those who actually pay the tax dollars?
 
Fools. Maybe instead of perpetrating a race to the bottom (I have shitty benefits, little sick/vacation time, flat wages and no chance at a pension, why should you?!) maybe private sector employees should instead ask why their incomes have stayed flat or gone down while corporations have never been richer and their bosses' wealth skyrocketed. Sadly with collusion between companies like with Silicon Valley artificially engineering wages to stay low increasingly becoming the norm, we can only expect more to come.

Sad thing is the grunts are advancing the agenda of those engaging in this behavior, advocating against their own interests.
 
Might have a wee bit to do with tons of federal employees living in/around D.C. and the higher cost of living associated with the area. But some will likely draw more tinfoil-ish conclusions related to the big bad boogeyman of the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
 
PokerGuy said:
Federal employees on average make more than private sector ones and have much better benefits. That's not new or a surprise. What is interesting is that those higher wages and benefits are now also rising faster than the private sector ones.


https://reason.com/blog/2015/10/08/federal-employees-wages-growing-faster-t

Not sure what to make of this. Does it make sense to have the wages that are paid for using tax dollars increasing faster than the wages for those who actually pay the tax dollars?
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Now control for education and job type and see what you come up with. Oops.

Federal employees are on average significantly more educated and significantly more likely to be working in higher end, white collar jobs than the average American. (you don't have federal McDonald's restaurants, etc) It is highly dishonest of Reason and CATO not to account for this.

It's pretty common knowledge that on the low end, working for the government means you get paid more and on the high end jobs working for the government means you get paid less.
 
Pens1566 said:
Might have a wee bit to do with tons of federal employees living in/around D.C. and the higher cost of living associated with the area. But some will likely draw more tinfoil-ish conclusions related to the big bad boogeyman of the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
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I could see how having more federal employees in that particular area might push up the average wages, but how does that explain the faster rising federal wages and benefits when compared to private sector ones?
 
eskimospy said:
Now control for education and job type and see what you come up with. Oops.

Federal employees are on average significantly more educated and significantly more likely to be working in higher end, white collar jobs than the average American. (you don't have federal McDonald's restaurants, etc) It is highly dishonest of Reason and CATO not to account for this.

It's pretty common knowledge that on the low end, working for the government means you get paid more and on the high end jobs working for the government means you get paid less.
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There was no argument put forth that the wages shouldn't be higher -- I expect them to be for the reasons you and Pens1566 put forth. What I can't explain is why they would be going up 50% faster than private sector wages?
 
PokerGuy said:
I could see how having more federal employees in that particular area might push up the average wages, but how does that explain the faster rising federal wages and benefits when compared to private sector ones?
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If I remember correctly wage growth has been stagnant in low skill jobs and somewhat better in higher end, high skill jobs. Because federal employees are disproportionately the latter it only makes sense that their wages would grow faster.

These are the sort of things that Reason should be pointing out if they were making that post with the intent to inform.
 
Let's not forget the government isn't trying to squeeze every last drop of blood out of their workforce the way corporations have been doing more and more.
 
Haven't their wages been frozen for a few years? But I see the point at first state & federal employees:
Did it to be kind or sense of duty less pay, less benefits than private companies
Then decades later:
They did it for better benefits but less pay
More recently:
Much better health, better time off, similar retirement less pay
Now:
Much better health, much more secure retirement, better time off, better pay.
 
dank69 said:
Let's not forget the government isn't trying to squeeze every last drop of blood out of their workforce the way corporations have been doing more and more.
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Is this response supposed to be an indictment of the private sector? When the private sector can forcefully take money from their customers or print their own money. Then I think the comparison about getting the most out of their workforce is fair.
 
Wages rising at a rate below inflation is an issue. Both public and private sector workers are getting hosed. But divide and conquer works great so keep it up.
 
Genx87 said:
Is this response supposed to be an indictment of the private sector? When the private sector can forcefully take money from their customers or print their own money. Then I think the comparison about getting the most out of their workforce is fair.
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There is a difference between trying to maintain the most efficient workforce possible and screwing over your workforce as much as possible.
 
eskimospy said:
If I remember correctly wage growth has been stagnant in low skill jobs and somewhat better in higher end, high skill jobs. Because federal employees are disproportionately the latter it only makes sense that their wages would grow faster.
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That seems like a reasonable answer.

dank69 said:
Let's not forget the government isn't trying to squeeze every last drop of blood out of their workforce the way corporations have been doing more and more.
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Sure, if you have no competition and you can force your "customer" to pay whatever you want, then of course you don't have as much pressure to lower your costs. You're trying to make the point as an indictment of the private sector, but it's actually the opposite.
 
Fanatical Meat said:
Haven't their wages been frozen for a few years? But I see the point at first state & federal employees:
Did it to be kind or sense of duty less pay, less benefits than private companies
Then decades later:
They did it for better benefits but less pay
More recently:
Much better health, better time off, similar retirement less pay
Now:
Much better health, much more secure retirement, better time off, better pay.
Click to expand...

It sure looks that way. I wonder if it really is that way after adjusting for things like education and job type as eskimo pointed out. If that's the case even after accounting for those factors, that's a big problem.. but I don't know that to be the case.

dank69 said:
There is a difference between trying to maintain the most efficient workforce possible and screwing over your workforce as much as possible.
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Are you saying private sector employers don't maintain as efficient a workforce?
 
PokerGuy said:
It sure looks that way. I wonder if it really is that way after adjusting for things like education and job type as eskimo pointed out. If that's the case even after accounting for those factors, that's a big problem.. but I don't know that to be the case.



Are you saying private sector employers don't maintain as efficient a workforce?
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Nope. Pretty sure I didn't say that.
 
PokerGuy said:
That seems like a reasonable answer.



Sure, if you have no competition and you can force your "customer" to pay whatever you want, then of course you don't have as much pressure to lower your costs. You're trying to make the point as an indictment of the private sector, but it's actually the opposite.
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Funny how that pressure to reduce costs rarely affects executive pay.
 
IronWing said:
That depends upon whether you are the screwer or the screwee.
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No, it actually doesn't. It is to everyone's benefit to have government do things as efficiently and cost effectively as possible. If there's no pressure to lower costs, then we all end up paying too much for government.

Blaming the private sector for doing whatever they (legally) can to keep costs low doesn't make sense, that's exactly what they should be doing.
 
dank69 said:
Let's not forget the government isn't trying to squeeze every last drop of blood out of their workforce the way corporations have been doing more and more.
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no just out of taxpayers.

and no your not really a taxpayer if you work for government.
 
Good for them, they'll have more money to buy things from the private sector and create jobs. CEOs and shareholders are more than welcome to reduce their cut and increase private sector compensation.
 
http://www.factcheck.org/2010/12/are-federal-workers-overpaid/

Government Executive, April 1, 2010: In reality, the question of whether or not federal employees are overpaid doesn’t have a simple answer, according to Charles Fay, a professor at Rutgers University and former Federal Salary Council member. Those in entry-level jobs in the government might earn more than entry-level jobs in private practice, he notes, while the opposite is true for those in management and specialized fields requiring years of experience. "The higher you go, the more they’re underpaid," Fay says. "The lower they go, the more they’re overpaid."
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