Federal Government Services were to be made “cool” again by President Obama. However, for a majority of file and rank employees, this was not implemented as promised. Private sector jobs in the millions have been lost over a three year period, and the federal government is feeling pressure as well in the loss of benefits, wages and tenure.

Less Benefits and Bonuses

Last year, a wage freeze was implemented on two million federal jobs. This initiated a reduction in the bonus pool, not allowing some Federal employees to receive bonuses for outstanding performance. The bonus pool was estimated to be about 4 million dollars, and approximately 1.3 million Federal employees received bonuses.

Federal Workforce Wages

Democrats and Republicans complain that the workforce is too massive, and that federal employees are better compensated than private sector employees. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economics Federal Workforce Analysis report stated that the compensation average, including benefits, for Federal employees was $119,002 and private sector was just over $59,000.

There is a complicated Political debate, regarding whether Federal employees truly have compensation advantages over, private sector employees. On average, Federal employees are older, more educated and more experienced than private sector employees. These workers’ earnings should be more, due to that fact.

Based on a study by Andrew Biggs, a scholar-ed resident at the American Enterprise Institution of Washington, indicates that the major difference in salary between federal employees and private sector is merit based, but the study also implies that 14% is not merited. The President’s Pay Agent, an entity that includes two officers in the Cabinet and the Director of the Federal Office of Personnel Management, are repeatedly cited by the Federal Management Workers Union to defend their members, according to the workforce analysis.

Federal Workers May Be Required to Pay Part of Pension Costs

The most recent Pay Agent report indicated that private sector employees actually had a salary advantage of 24%. However, the report found little difference with regards to which party controlled the White House. Congress and the White House are struggling to make a negotiation with regards to the debt ceiling and deficit reduction. While these debates linger on, Republicans and Democrats consider having federal workforce pay a greater portion of pension costs.