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Fed employees make more than private sector

JTM

"Just in case"
Premium Member
Why don't we all go work for the government? I mean, really? Everyone should. We'd all be making a ton of money:

Overall, federal workers earned an average salary of $67,691 in 2008 for occupations that exist both in government and the private sector, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The average pay for the same mix of jobs in the private sector was $60,046 in 2008, the most recent data available.
These salary figures do not include the value of health, pension and other benefits, which averaged $40,785 per federal employee in 2008 vs. $9,882 per private worker, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

edit: forgot the link: http://govcentral.monster.com/gover...source=nlet&utm_content=gc_c1_20100311_fedpay
 

drapetomaniac

Premium Member
Premium Member
I think one thing that should absolutely happen is Congressional wages being linked to the minimum wage. I find it ironic the people who fight to keep it low give themselves raises regularly.

I think the response if a fair one:
http://govcentral.monster.com/news/...rts-federal-employees-are-overpaid-misleading

Applying for my first job in Texas, I was asked to format a floppy disk. A similar job in the state or city government would have required a full educational history (i wouldn't have qualified because I didn't have a degree or equivalent experience - now I have equivalent experience), salary history, full references check and extremely specific requirements and or certifications. I've worked for City, County and State level governments and none of those had easy processes to hiring.
 

JTM

"Just in case"
Premium Member
including benefits, it's 110k for govt employee, 70k for private employee. you really think that it's that huge of an education disparity?

and none of that process means anything at all. that's why there is an entire industry devoted to helping you get through it.

AND government jobs require more work? total B.S. government jobs are the easiest types.
 

drapetomaniac

Premium Member
Premium Member
AND government jobs require more work? total B.S. government jobs are the easiest types.

Well then the original study you cited was completely wrong, because it was supposed to be about jobs that exist int the private and public sector.

Take registered nurses working at the Veterans Administration. They care for the complex injuries and illnesses of our wounded warriors and veterans. Partly reflecting the complexity of the care they deliver, nurses working for the federal government are more than twice as likely to have a college degree as those employed by the private sector (24 percent relative to 11 percent). As another example, database administrators are twice as likely to have a post-collegiate degree in the federal government as those working in the private sector (31 percent versus 16 percent).

Overall, roughly half the federal workforce has a college degree, compared to about a third in the private sector.
...
So the bottom line is: when education and age are held constant, the entire difference in average pay between the federal and private sectors disappears.
http://govcentral.monster.com/news/articles/25487-salary-statistics-from-the-omb-director

including benefits, it's 110k for govt employee, 70k for private employee. you really think that it's that huge of an education disparity?

Actually, that math matches almost exactly up with the numbers above and these http://www.earnmydegree.com/online-education/learning-center/education-value.html

What level should government jobs be pegged at? Should the guy running transportation in Disney land get paid more than the guy running it for Dallas? Isn't that basically managing the government towards the vision of malicious incompetence people see it as? Should nurses at the VA be purposefully paid lower than the private sector? Should the people working in computer security, or security in general, get paid less for government jobs?
 

Dave in Waco

Premium Member
It all depends on the field. I'm in the IT field for my county. We've had interns that, who couldn't install Office without directions, after getting their associates degrees went on to starting jobs making more then my Director.
 

JTM

"Just in case"
Premium Member
Ideally for me, I wish working for the government was more like working for a not-for-profit company/organization.

And I suppose I'm not necessarily targeting county/city employees, because those guys usually don't make nearly as much as federal employees.
 

jim9361

Registered User
Yes, they should get paid less.

Then you believe that US Border Patrol Agents, Customs and Border Protection Officers and ICE Special Agents should be paid less then the local PD Officers and Sheriff's Deputies in their respective communities ?
 

Dave in Waco

Premium Member
Then you believe that US Border Patrol Agents, Customs and Border Protection Officers and ICE Special Agents should be paid less then the local PD Officers and Sheriff's Deputies in their respective communities ?

Local PD Officers and Sheriff's Deputies aren't private sector, just local public. And I believe in most cases local already makes less then fed.
 

drapetomaniac

Premium Member
Premium Member
Then you believe that US Border Patrol Agents, Customs and Border Protection Officers and ICE Special Agents should be paid less then the local PD Officers and Sheriff's Deputies in their respective communities ?

You can simplify this - war contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan very often get paid better than our soldiers.

But, we like civil servants who carry guns. It's the others that get dumped on.
 

Traveling Man

Premium Member
Then you believe that US Border Patrol Agents, Customs and Border Protection Officers and ICE Special Agents should be paid less then the local PD Officers and Sheriff's Deputies in their respective communities ?

They ARE paid less, have you checked their wages? That's why it's easy for the cartels to suck them in with easy money. I talked with one on the U.S. side of Matomoros (the other day) and he said I didn't have a "Texas" acent; I told him he didn't either, he was from New York (Canadian Border) and they rotate them around the U.S. on an unpublished schedule because they just fired 13 for accepting bribes... Check out those wages, please!

Me, myself? I want the "Lifetime" medical benefits that a two term congressman gets; no wonder they made themselves exempt from the new "slacker care" program!
 

drapetomaniac

Premium Member
Premium Member
They ARE paid less, have you checked their wages? That's why it's easy for the cartels to suck them in with easy money.

This is an important point. One of the "social profiles" of risky employees is being underpaid. They feel like they are owed something, so they take when they can. That's in all sectors.
 

Traveling Man

Premium Member
This is an important point. One of the "social profiles" of risky employees is being underpaid. They feel like they are owed something, so they take when they can. That's in all sectors.

That's what you get when you hire individuals with "situational ethics". Low pay justifies this behaviour? I think not!
Let’s stop insinuating that being poor or the lowest paid are dishonest or less honest shall we; didn’t we visit this once before?

When individuals justifies their less than moral actions based upon “situational ethics†it soon turns into a moral turpitude issue. Debauchery comes from all classes in our society.
 

drapetomaniac

Premium Member
Premium Member
That's what you get when you hire individuals with "situational ethics". Low pay justifies this behaviour? I think not!.

I think not either. But people who have situational ethics will be hired no matter what (I've never passed an ethical exam nor have I been given one for a job).

The point is that if someone is looking for an excuse, low pay will be it. If you remove that by *fair* pay, then their range of excuses gets lower.

And note - I said "underpaid" not low wage or poor.

I've worked in jobs that very directly and specifically exploited their employees. Which is unethical to begin with.
 

Traveling Man

Premium Member
If you remove that by *fair* pay, then their range of excuses gets lower.

And note - I said "underpaid" not low wage or poor.

I've worked in jobs that very directly and specifically exploited their employees. Which is unethical to begin with.

The employer has that option and so does the employee. As far as I can recollect no one is "forced" to work for substandard wages against their will. What an employee thinks their labour is worth verses what the market demands is often two different worlds apart.
With the exportation of jobs I think that has become self evident. Maybe we all “think†we are worth more than we actually are?
 

jim9361

Registered User
They ARE paid less, have you checked their wages? That's why it's easy for the cartels to suck them in with easy money. I talked with one on the U.S. side of Matomoros (the other day) and he said I didn't have a "Texas" acent; I told him he didn't either, he was from New York (Canadian Border) and they rotate them around the U.S. on an unpublished schedule because they just fired 13 for accepting bribes... Check out those wages, please!

Me, myself? I want the "Lifetime" medical benefits that a two term congressman gets; no wonder they made themselves exempt from the new "slacker care" program!

Yes I have checked their wages. I check the wage of a Border Patrol Agent every two weeks when I get paid. I'm sorry for the leading questions but it really was not directed at you. I have friends that work for the local PD, SO and DPS and my pay is higher than all of them. Not bragging just stating fact and staying on subject. Furthermore, I have earned every penny busting my hump in this dusty little border town for the last 13 years.

Also, your information about the unpublished rotations and the 13 that just got arrested for accepting bribes are false.

Apples and oranges. All are law enforcement but, I do not see how anyone can compare the job description of US Border Patrol Agents, Customs and Border Protection Officers and ICE Special Agents with that of PD Officers, Sheriffs Deputies and State Troopers. That's like comparing NBA players with NFL players. Both are athletes but play different games. All in all, I do not see how a person can compare a federal law enforcement employee's pay with that of anybody in the private or other public sector. Please never mix up congress with federal employees. With few exceptions the two are complete different branches of goverment.
 
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Traveling Man

Premium Member
Yes I have checked their wages. I check the wage of a Border Patrol Agent every two weeks when I get paid. I'm sorry for the leading questions but it really was not directed at you. I have friends that work for the local PD, SO and DPS and my pay is higher than all of them. Not bragging just stating fact and staying on subject. Furthermore, I have earned every penny busting my hump in this dusty little border town for the last 13 years.

Also, your information about the unpublished rotations and the 13 that just got arrested for accepting bribes are false.

Apples and oranges. All are law enforcement but, I do not see how anyone can compare the job description of US Border Patrol Agents, Customs and Border Protection Officers and ICE Special Agents with that of PD Officers, Sheriffs Deputies and State Troopers. That's like comparing NBA players with NFL players. Both are athletes but play different games. All in all, I do not see how a person can compare a federal law enforcement employee's pay with that of anybody in the private or other public sector. Please never mix up congress with federal employees. With few exceptions the two are complete different branches of goverment.

Well I guess I have to take a grain of salt (huge lum) with what CBPO and ICE tell me directly to my face. That's not the first time I've be lied to either...

Congress and Federal employees are indeed a horse of a different colour. Sorry!
 

JTM

"Just in case"
Premium Member
Then you believe that US Border Patrol Agents, Customs and Border Protection Officers and ICE Special Agents should be paid less then the local PD Officers and Sheriff's Deputies in their respective communities ?

those are two different jobs. i'm saying comparable jobs in the private vs public sector... private sector should make more.

if you patrolled the border for a private company, you should make more. this idea that the govt has to offer more is crap.
 

jim9361

Registered User
those are two different jobs. i'm saying comparable jobs in the private vs public sector... private sector should make more.

if you patrolled the border for a private company, you should make more. this idea that the govt has to offer more is crap.

Please enlighten me brother. What would you compare the job of a Border Patrol Agent with ? BPA's are Fed employees. While your at it can you tell me what the job description and duties of a Border Patrol Agent are ?

I believe we are on the same sheet of music on comparisons. (*** "All in all, I do not see how a person can compare a federal law enforcement employee's pay with that of anybody in the private or other public sector". --Me ) But we apparently disagree about my getting paid well for doing my job while you sleep comfortably in your bed at night.
 
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