Shows a contradiction/hypocrisy. They have the money, but just choose to spend it on corporations and not humans.
It's part of the whole charade of smaller government. The number of actual government employees is reduced but then the government pays contracting companies 2x or 3x (or more) for contractors and ends up with same number of butts in seats.
That's my point. They have the money, but something-something..."policy"...something-something.... It goes to corporations instead of people.
However, some agencies have gotten special permission from Congress to use another pay scale which was designed to allow agencies to pay for performance rather than guaranteed raises over time. Though I’ve heard that it doesn’t always work the way it was intended. I was actually initially offered a lot lower salary at another agency that used the pay for performance than my current agency that uses the General Schedule scale.
For general reference: GS-7: B.A./B.S. and GS-9: Master’s.
For all intelligence positions, you are required to pass and maintain a Top Secret/Special Compartmented Information clearance which takes about a year these days due to backlog. This hinders the agencies ability to recruit top talent. I recommend checking out the SF-86 Questionnaire for National Security Positions if you want to see what all is asked.
Right now, I could switch to the private sector and make a lot more than I am making now. But I stay because I believe in the mission and work of my agency. I get to do things that I would never get to do in the private sector. Maybe one day I will switch but for right now I am staying.
Personal attacks aren't welcome here.
The government has the money. As evidenced by their defense budget.
The government does not pay the money to their employees. As evidenced by NSA employees making less than high-grade truck drivers.
The government does pay billions to corporations such as Lockheed or Booz, etc.
SO let's recap: they have the money, they just choose not to pay it to their employees. But instead it inexplicably gets rerouted to rent-seeking gatekeepers.
"The government" is not a gigantic neolithic behemoth doing whatever it wants whenever it wants. You might be surprised to learn that there are in fact three branches of government in the United States. Congress has passed more than one law detailing the manner in which federal employees can be paid, and limiting how much each given position may be paid.[0] Similarly, Congress sets the budget for the Executive agencies. Because the Pentagon get billions of dollars does not mean that it's trivial to raise the salary of everyone at the Food & Drug Administration.
USG employees make significantly less than their private sector counterparts (usually) because they get quite a few benefits unavailable to the private sector:
* Generous paid leave in the form of sick time, vacation time, comp time, and scheduled holidays
* Accrued paid leave is paid out when you leave government employment
* Government pension Ignoring the completely nonsensical "rent-seeking gatekeepers" comment, Lockheed and BAH receive government contracts through open bid procurement processes. You'll get no argument from me that often times these bids are written so only 1-3 firms in the world even qualify, but that's sort of the nature of the beast when the bid is to develop a new missile or something.
[0] https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries...
It's attacking the person, not the central point. Thus making it ad-hominem.
> You might be surprised to learn that there are in fact three branches of government in the United States
See above comment.
Please keep personal swipes out of HN comments. Your post would be fine without the first sentence.