Chances are you went through a revolving door to a company that you used to have some linkage to, or your government service unit had linkage to.
And chances are as well that the company you work for is on government contract. Hence, your 40% increase was approved in the contract by a fellow government contracts officer.
I know when I turned down a GM-15 position with the federal government I could live with the fact that I would not have to work with the world’s worst deadwood.
The federal government could shed 50% of its workforce and no one would notice it.
But the real insult with people like you and in other tax supported institutions like major universities, is that you likely took an undeserved overly generous retirement with you as you started a new job with a new retirement plan. So likely you will be triple dipping, your government pension, your new job pension and your social security which is still there for you but not for new kids coming along.
Congratulations.
I am one of these triple dippers you are talking about.
I draw a military pension, social security and a small state civil service pension.
The cash value of these pensions is less than the value of the stock options of some of the twenty-something-year olds in my acquaintance.
I worked my butt off and I apologize to no one for the decent lifestyle I enjoy in my twilight years.
You don’t even have a clue what you are talking about.
This study focuses on salaries, not total compensation. It is not easy to make a reasonable comparison. Besides controlling for variables such as education and position, intangible benefits need to be controlled. Intangible variables include job security, vacation time, sick leave, and work environment.
All of these studies are seriously flawed in retirement compensation. Retirement compensation in most government jobs is much higher than in the private sector. Although a few private sector executives receive golden parachutes at retirement, most government workers receive golden parachutes in large amounts of deferred compensation that is carefully disguised as a pension. Many government agencies however, claim that retirement compensation is higher in the private sector than public sector.
For example, in Colorado, the Department of Human Resources conducts an annual compensation survey to ensure that compensation of public employees is comparable to private sector employees. Amazingly, the agency claims that retirement compensation in the private sector is higher than the public sector. If retirement compensation is higher (or at least comparable), why do public sector employees retire at much younger ages at higher levels of benefits?
Here is a summary of a recent study that analyzes retirement compensation of public employees in Colorado. The study indicates that career public employees receive large amounts of deferred compensation. This deferred compensation when allocated to a career employee’s salary can increase compensation 30% to 50%.
http://www.i2i.org/articles/IB-2007-D.pdf