Number of federal workers getting 6-figure salaries explodes during recession

USA Today is reporting that the number of federal workers making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% of civil servants during the recession's first 18 months — and that's doesn't include overtime pay and bonuses are counted.

Federal workers are enjoying an extraordinary boom time — in pay and hiring — during a recession that has cost 7.3 million jobs in the private sector. The highest-paid federal employees are doing best of all on salary increases. Defense Department civilian employees earning $150,000 or more increased from 1,868 in December 2007 to 10,100 in June 2009, the most recent figure available.

The trend to six-figure salaries is occurring throughout the federal government, in agencies big and small, high-tech and low-tech. The primary cause: substantial pay raises and new salary rules. The growth in six-figure salaries has pushed the average federal worker's pay to $71,206, compared with $40,331 in the private sector.

Defense Department civilian employees earning $150,000 or more increased from 1,868 in December 2007 to 10,100 in June 2009, the most recent figure available.

Due to deployments to combat zones. Base salary has an add on of 35% for post differential (pretty standard for oversees duty) and 35% for danger pay. Not a lot of comfort when the "Big Voice" goes off.

The growth in six-figure salaries has pushed the average federal worker's pay to $71,206, compared with $40,331 in the private sector.

It would also be an interesting to see numbers contrasting benefits since the public sector generally also has high benefits.

However DOD salaries in combat zones continue to lag behind contracted employees performing similar functions.

Are you suggesting that nineteen percent of federal workers are in combat zones? Exactly what percentage of DOD workers are in war zones and how does that make it okay that 19% of federal employees make more than 2.5 the national average?

DoD also has locality pay to attract engineers/software skills in high cost areas such as New York City, Wash DC and other major high cost areas vs same skills in more remote places.
Freepers need to know that many of the high cost salary policies were started during the prosperous period of our economic cycle when government salaries did lag with their private counterparts, and the higher federal pay gap occuring now is the result of the past policies coming to fruition just when the economy is now going the other way. What will happen is DoD will make cost savings and will do away with these higher pay incentives, but by the time it is fully implemented, the economy (hopefully) will recover and then the pay gap will go the other way.
Another factor is higher pay is nearly 2/3 of the DoD workforce is approaching 50+ years in age. Fed workers tend to have lower starting salaries, but at 10+ years they will catch up with their private counterparts, and exceed them at 20+ years of service. Due to intermittent hiring freezes, the federal workforce goes from new starts, very little mid age, and then jumps in numbers to 50+ age. That will skew the average salary numbers when compared to private industry who tends to fire people when they approach 50 and hire as much young people. If we have a long severe recession, this composition of private workforce will change because young people cannot get jobs, while the older folks will not retire.

Defense Department civilian employees earning $150,000 or more increased from 1,868 in December 2007 to 10,100 in June 2009, the most recent figure available. . . . As opposed to our elected officials who never seem to miss the chance to vote themselves a pay raise?

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