Federal Government Employee Compensation Report - Surprising Numbers.

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Open The Books (www.openthebooks.com) is a "transparency" organization that reports how government operates..with a focus on efficiency, or lack thereof.

The latest report, entitled "Mapping The Swamp", details how much Federal Government Employees are paid, and the compensation trends since 2010. Here are a few excerpts from their summary page...

“We found small and large agencies across the federal government gaming the system for personal gain – and it’s expensive for the taxpayer,” said OpenTheBooks.com CEO and founder Adam Andrzejewski. “Congress should hold hearings to bring transparency to all the information we’re still missing, including performance bonuses and pension payouts. It’s time to squeeze out waste from compensation and stop abusive payroll practices.”

1. The federal government pays its disclosed workforce $1 million per minute, $66 million per hour, and $524 million per day. In FY2016, the federal government disclosed 1.97 million employees at a cash compensation cost of $136.3 billion.

2. Over a six-year period (FY2010-2016), the number of federal employees making $200,000 or more has increased by 165 percent; those making $150,000 or more has grown by 60 percent; and those making more than $100,000 has increased by 37 percent.

3. In FY2016, a total 406,960 employees made six-figure incomes – that's roughly one in five disclosed federal employees. Furthermore, 29,852 federal employees out-earned each of the 50 state governors receiving more than $190,823.

MUCH MORE AT: www.openthebooks.com...

Does this Federal Employee pay report surprise anyone besides me? I remember President Obama stating that he was freezing pay raises, and also hiring, because of the "Bush recession". And Seniors didn't get Social Security increases (COLA) for several years, due to the stagnant economy.

-CareWeMust

Bloated paychecks for their cronies, paid for in part by you.

My ex is an internal investigator for the DA's office,I know she has to pay in to a lot of things,they have"coffee clubs",if you drink coffee you take turns buying it,plus any flavored creamer,then they have the"water club",in all my days I never had to pay for coffee where I worked,nor water,then pay into retirement,insurance,and her pay isn't 6 figures by far

originally posted by: nOraKat
Bloated paychecks for their cronies, paid for in part by you.

I worked in State government for 2 years, fixing computers. I'd drive 60 miles only to find that the office manager didn't know that the mouse had an off/on switch. Half a day to accomplish NOTHING, but a quick "mouse for dummies" orientation. I can only imagine what goes on at the Federal level.

a reply to: Oldtimer2

You prob have to be in the 'club' to get those salaries - like intelligence, or administration. But to be fair, $100k is the new poor in some cities.

originally posted by: carewemust

originally posted by: nOraKat
Bloated paychecks for their cronies, paid for in part by you.

I worked in State government for 2 years, fixing computers. I'd drive 60 miles only to find that the office manager didn't know that the mouse had an off/on switch. Half a day to accomplish NOTHING, but a quick "mouse for dummies" orientation. I can only imagine what goes on at the Federal level.

OK, fair enough, but seriously.... why didn't you just call him first?!?

a reply to: carewemust

This is why I say fire the politicians AND THE STAFF.

Sadly this wont end. Our own people are ruining our country. Its us. We have raised liars and abusers.

For all the talk of corrupt leaders we sure have a lot of corrupt citizens.

Burn it all.

And Seniors didn't get Social Security increases (COLA) for several years, due to the stagnant economy

Actually they did.

But their medicare costs ate away any noticeable increase.

Happens lots of times to them.

Seniors and the disabled should be making a hell of a lot more than they are.

Meanwhile 6 figure government jobs.

a reply to: carewemust

It shouldn't surprise you. It has been known for a while that government employees in general make 1/3 again more than their private sector counterparts across the board and they do less actual work.

Take husband's job. He worked quality control and it was tuned to a production schedule. Testing needed to be done when it needed to be done so they worked on that schedule which is why they are all salary. The government counterparts in regulatory worked on their schedule only doing so many tests a day and worked by the hour and make much more doing much less in terms of volume.

originally posted by: Dem0nc1eaner

originally posted by: carewemust

originally posted by: nOraKat
Bloated paychecks for their cronies, paid for in part by you.

I worked in State government for 2 years, fixing computers. I'd drive 60 miles only to find that the office manager didn't know that the mouse had an off/on switch. Half a day to accomplish NOTHING, but a quick "mouse for dummies" orientation. I can only imagine what goes on at the Federal level.

OK, fair enough, but seriously.... why didn't you just call him first?!?

I agree, yet some are contracturally bound to have a presence if they receive a tech call no matter how insignificant it may seem.

a reply to: carewemust


It's real easy to vilify the Government but people across the private sector game the system equally as much if not more. I've had conversations with countless people who will work the double-time and a half hours on holidays, knowing full well their intent is to do absolutely nothing all because they know the companies are required by law to provide that to them.

People will take 45 minutes for lunch instead of 30. People will take 20 minute smoke breaks instead of the 5 minutes it takes to actually smoke a cigarette.

The government employees are just more highly scrutinized, but its people everywhere. So, no I'm not surprised, unless your intent by pointing it out is your hope for changing human nature, which "aint gonna happen".

originally posted by: alphabetaone
a reply to: carewemust


It's real easy to vilify the Government but people across the private sector game the system equally as much if not more. I've had conversations with countless people who will work the double-time and a half hours on holidays, knowing full well their intent is to do absolutely nothing all because they know the companies are required by law to provide that to them.

People will take 45 minutes for lunch instead of 30. People will take 20 minute smoke breaks instead of the 5 minutes it takes to actually smoke a cigarette.

The government employees are just more highly scrutinized, but its people everywhere. So, no I'm not surprised, unless your intent by pointing it out is your hope for changing human nature, which "aint gonna happen".

Private sector doesn't tolerate that unless the employee is in a union. High productive private sector jobs for the most part are "at will" which means they can fire your butt for any reason at any time.

originally posted by: carewemust
Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Open The Books (www.openthebooks.com) is a "transparency" organization that reports how government operates..with a focus on efficiency, or lack thereof.

The latest report, entitled "Mapping The Swamp", details how much Federal Government Employees are paid, and the compensation trends since 2010. Here are a few excerpts from their summary page...

“We found small and large agencies across the federal government gaming the system for personal gain – and it’s expensive for the taxpayer,” said OpenTheBooks.com CEO and founder Adam Andrzejewski. “Congress should hold hearings to bring transparency to all the information we’re still missing, including performance bonuses and pension payouts. It’s time to squeeze out waste from compensation and stop abusive payroll practices.”

1. The federal government pays its disclosed workforce $1 million per minute, $66 million per hour, and $524 million per day. In FY2016, the federal government disclosed 1.97 million employees at a cash compensation cost of $136.3 billion.

2. Over a six-year period (FY2010-2016), the number of federal employees making $200,000 or more has increased by 165 percent; those making $150,000 or more has grown by 60 percent; and those making more than $100,000 has increased by 37 percent.

3. In FY2016, a total 406,960 employees made six-figure incomes – that's roughly one in five disclosed federal employees. Furthermore, 29,852 federal employees out-earned each of the 50 state governors receiving more than $190,823.

MUCH MORE AT: www.openthebooks.com...

Does this Federal Employee pay report surprise anyone besides me? I remember President Obama stating that he was freezing pay raises, and also hiring, because of the "Bush recession". And Seniors didn't get Social Security increases (COLA) for several years, due to the stagnant economy.

-CareWeMust

It isn't the salaries, but more so the retirement packages that make these jobs lucrative.

originally posted by: Edumakated

originally posted by: alphabetaone
a reply to: carewemust


It's real easy to vilify the Government but people across the private sector game the system equally as much if not more. I've had conversations with countless people who will work the double-time and a half hours on holidays, knowing full well their intent is to do absolutely nothing all because they know the companies are required by law to provide that to them.

People will take 45 minutes for lunch instead of 30. People will take 20 minute smoke breaks instead of the 5 minutes it takes to actually smoke a cigarette.

The government employees are just more highly scrutinized, but its people everywhere. So, no I'm not surprised, unless your intent by pointing it out is your hope for changing human nature, which "aint gonna happen".

Private sector doesn't tolerate that unless the employee is in a union. High productive private sector jobs for the most part are "at will" which means they can fire your butt for any reason at any time.

And that proves my point. Allegedly, the American People don't tolerate that either, yet, here we are, tolerating it and doing nothing more than posting in a forum about it, which, by the way is likely all you can do anyway.

originally posted by: Oldtimer2
My ex is an internal investigator for the DA's office,I know she has to pay in to a lot of things,they have"coffee clubs",if you drink coffee you take turns buying it,plus any flavored creamer,then they have the"water club",in all my days I never had to pay for coffee where I worked,nor water,then pay into retirement,insurance,and her pay isn't 6 figures by far

That was pretty standard at any government job I worked... you paid for your own coffee/lunches/etc. We also had coffee clubs, where we took turns buying coffee and creamers.

And the holidays were not what people in the corporate environment got. I think it was around 10 years (back in the day) before I got more than two weeks leave time per year (I sweated it every time the kids got sick.)

The salaries I see listed for my area for the Federal government are not out of line with what city government pays its workers for the same/similar jobs ... and it's less than many corporations pay for the same position.

originally posted by: carewemust
Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Open The Books (www.openthebooks.com) is a "transparency" organization that reports how government operates..with a focus on efficiency, or lack thereof.

The latest report, entitled "Mapping The Swamp", details how much Federal Government Employees are paid, and the compensation trends since 2010. Here are a few excerpts from their summary page...

“We found small and large agencies across the federal government gaming the system for personal gain – and it’s expensive for the taxpayer,” said OpenTheBooks.com CEO and founder Adam Andrzejewski. “Congress should hold hearings to bring transparency to all the information we’re still missing, including performance bonuses and pension payouts. It’s time to squeeze out waste from compensation and stop abusive payroll practices.”

1. The federal government pays its disclosed workforce $1 million per minute, $66 million per hour, and $524 million per day. In FY2016, the federal government disclosed 1.97 million employees at a cash compensation cost of $136.3 billion.

2. Over a six-year period (FY2010-2016), the number of federal employees making $200,000 or more has increased by 165 percent; those making $150,000 or more has grown by 60 percent; and those making more than $100,000 has increased by 37 percent.

3. In FY2016, a total 406,960 employees made six-figure incomes – that's roughly one in five disclosed federal employees. Furthermore, 29,852 federal employees out-earned each of the 50 state governors receiving more than $190,823.

MUCH MORE AT: www.openthebooks.com...

Does this Federal Employee pay report surprise anyone besides me? I remember President Obama stating that he was freezing pay raises, and also hiring, because of the "Bush recession". And Seniors didn't get Social Security increases (COLA) for several years, due to the stagnant economy.

-CareWeMust

It is no coincidence that Maryland is over represented on the list of the wealthiest suburbs.... think about that. There is so much money being made / spent in DC that VA and Maryland have high costs of living due to so many people making six figure incomes.

Richest Suburbs

originally posted by: Edumakated
It isn't the salaries, but more so the retirement packages that make these jobs lucrative.

I retired from a 20+ year stint as a government programmer. I get around $36,000/year (which, according to the statistics is below a living wage for a two adult household) as my retirement benefit. I'm astonished to find that this is considered "lucrative."

a reply to: Byrd

I think the issue is the one size fits all approach the Federal government takes to wages. I have now lived in 2 communities with VA hospitals that have fairly low cost of living/wage scales. The federal employees out earn the locals considerably. While the new location i am in hasn't allowed me to witness it here, int he prior location the demand for the VA jobs gave quite a bit of leverage to the VA employees when it came to local influence.

There are some intangibles, but for the most part its not the rank and file that are overpaid. Its the folks working out of congressional offices and within bloated orgs like the IRS.

a reply to: carewemust

I didn't get a COL raise for three or four years under Obama. I currently earn just over $80k, which is pretty much in step with the private sector for the same job in this area, surprisingly. Many of us earn well under the private sector average for the same job, which is why many don't career with the government. They get valuable experience in contracting (for example) and then leave for a much higher paying private sector job.

originally posted by: Byrd

originally posted by: Edumakated
It isn't the salaries, but more so the retirement packages that make these jobs lucrative.

I retired from a 20+ year stint as a government programmer. I get around $36,000/year (which, according to the statistics is below a living wage for a two adult household) as my retirement benefit. I'm astonished to find that this is considered "lucrative."

It is lucrative. That is basically like having $1 million in the bank to live off. Heck, at current interest rates, more like $3 million. You'd have to gamble with equities to get that kind of return in dividends and cap gains which isn't the best thing to do in retirement for most folks. I'd guess you didn't sack away a $1 million pre-retirement? In other words, actuarial speaking, you are probably getting far more out than you actually put in for retirement which is why all these pension plans are ponzi schemes waiting to crash.