I got a 40 % raise when I left civil service... but they did expect me to work in private industry.
All and all, a good trade.
That shows that averages are meaningless. Some are underpaid, some are overpaid. It really depends on qualifications, skills, amount of work done.
I don’t doubt there are many loafers, but there are also many hard workers with good skills who have their reasons.
“but they did expect me to work in private industry”
That would be quite the shock to SOME government employees.
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.