Curmudgeon's Corner

Public Sector Employee Compensation

Posted by Al Campbell on Dec. 1, 2010

Wisconsin, U.S., Taxes, Economy, Political

Public sector employee pay and benefit packages are front-of-mind these days as virtually all governmental bodies cope with the economy and the accompanying tax revenue shortfalls that so often appear in these situations.  The Washington Examiner published a chart today depicting the changes in federal worker’s compensation from 2005 to 2010.

In 2005, there were 7,240 federal employees who earned $150,000; that number jumped to 82,034 in 2010.

In 2005, 2,852 federal employees earned $160,000; that number climbed to 44,898 in 2010.

In 2005, 1,322 employees earned $170,000 while that number increased to 27, 845 in 2010.

And, finally, in 2005 there were 805 employees earning $180,000.  There were 16,912 at the level in 2010.

President Obama floated a trial balloon a day or two ago stating that he would place a cap on the federal employees’ pay for the next two years.  That may or may not happen, but, at any rate, it is too little to have anything approaching a significant impact.  We are facing reductions in state employee compensation packages in the next biennium and the federal employees ought to be facing the same thing.

Simply placing federal employees in a compensation holding pattern, while effecting some small amount of savings, is simply a sop that is intended to create the false impression that the current administration is really after the unions that control the vast majority of federal employees.

The rate of growth in both numbers and costs of public sector employees has to be brought to heel.  We, who pay those people, simply cannot afford to continue to foot those costs.