Fed employees and work ethic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to any pickleball courts in the DMV and you will find A LOT of remote Fed workers playing pickleball during normal work hours. There are also A LOT of remote Fed workers at public golf courses during normal work hours. I have played with so many of them for the past five years. They book the golf tee times under their spouse's names, so that it can not be traced back to them.

Please like Feds have the money for even regular play on a public course.

They definitely do, especially those GS-14/15 with specialized pay. I know several GS-14 people at DHS making over 212K/yr. Public golf courses in Fairfax County are very affordable. It costs $39 for an 18-hole round of golf. When a Fed works remotely, he/she saves money on lunch & transportation, and use that money for golf. It's not that hard to understand.

Do tell where your friends are earning $212k a year as GS14s. I am a 14 in the DC area and the pay scale tops out at $181k. Despite my Ph.D. from a top 5 program I earn considerably less than that even after multiple years with the government. Looking at the locality table it tops out at $187k for New York. I call BS. I suspect the rest of your post is just as accurate.

​For someone with a Ph.D., it is unbelievable that you don't even know this, and you're a Fed. Your Ph.D. should be revoked. LOL....

The DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has special pay for people who are specialized in cybersecurity. I joined CISA in 2021 as a GS-14 step 6. After one year, my salary was increased by 25%, and I also received about 8K in bonuses. In 2024, I am at GS-14 step 7 ($167,276 x 1.25 = $208.75K + $8K bonus = 216K). FWIW, I only have a BS degree in Computer Engineering from UVA.

Yeah, because no one wants to runs checklist security theater for peanuts when even middling tech pays better.

Why in the world did you waste your time at UVA on engineering??

LOL.... I graduated from UVA engineering, NOT CMU engineering. Joking aside, 216K/year is a very good salary for me.

[Anonymous]

All of a sudden fed workers are killing themselves with 80-hour weeks for the good of the country. What a bunch of crap.

[Anonymous]

Fun fact DOJ and FBI attorneys are prohibited from earning overtime. We certainly work more than 40 hours but Congress prohibited overtime many years ago.

Yes - we have been told over the years to put 40 hours on our timesheets even if we work 60-80. How is that acceptable?

[Anonymous]

To the poster who wrote about the feds being the last bastion of the MC 40 hour work life balance workweek, spot on. I can’t agree with this more. This is where the resentment comes from, from both the working class and the wealthy elites. They all hate it. My parent is a trumper and owns a small business and they hate the idea that their workers might want to have a life, take off from work for their kids sick days, work remotely occasionally, have any sort of work life balance. They say they support my fed career, but it’s clear they’re just supporting it for me as their chikd and they generally hate the fed career path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the poster who wrote about the feds being the last bastion of the MC 40 hour work life balance workweek, spot on. I can’t agree with this more. This is where the resentment comes from, from both the working class and the wealthy elites. They all hate it. My parent is a trumper and owns a small business and they hate the idea that their workers might want to have a life, take off from work for their kids sick days, work remotely occasionally, have any sort of work life balance. They say they support my fed career, but it’s clear they’re just supporting it for me as their chikd and they generally hate the fed career path.

Why resentment? Your father is free to work 40 hour weeks as well. I make less money than I otherwise could by working for the government. It’s fair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of a sudden fed workers are killing themselves with 80-hour weeks for the good of the country. What a bunch of crap.

I’m a fed attorney and I’ll admit I’m not working more than 40 hours (unless I’m earning comp time to use later). Can’t speak for other agencies, but yes there are a lot of feds I know working 40 hour weeks.

But I chose this instead of private sector because I’m a mom and wanted work/life balance. The trade off is less money. Taxpayers get what they pay for. You want someone working law firm hours then cough up law firm pay. I don’t think they’d be happy about that. Just besides we are civil servants doesn’t mean we owe you are labor for below market rate. I care about my agency’s mission, but it’s also a job. Most people are balancing pay/benefits/flexibility when choosing their careers (particularly people with advanced degrees from good institutions). This isn’t unique to the public sector.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of a sudden fed workers are killing themselves with 80-hour weeks for the good of the country. What a bunch of crap.

I’m a fed attorney and I’ll admit I’m not working more than 40 hours (unless I’m earning comp time to use later). Can’t speak for other agencies, but yes there are a lot of feds I know working 40 hour weeks.

But I chose this instead of private sector because I’m a mom and wanted work/life balance. The trade off is less money. Taxpayers get what they pay for. You want someone working law firm hours then cough up law firm pay. I don’t think they’d be happy about that. Just besides we are civil servants doesn’t mean we owe you are labor for below market rate. I care about my agency’s mission, but it’s also a job. Most people are balancing pay/benefits/flexibility when choosing their careers (particularly people with advanced degrees from good institutions). This isn’t unique to the public sector.

Ugh sorry for typos, need more coffee.

Just *because* and *our* labor. Since I know someone will predictably snark on that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of a sudden fed workers are killing themselves with 80-hour weeks for the good of the country. What a bunch of crap.

To be fair, some do work hard, but there is SO MUCH dead weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the poster who wrote about the feds being the last bastion of the MC 40 hour work life balance workweek, spot on. I can’t agree with this more. This is where the resentment comes from, from both the working class and the wealthy elites. They all hate it. My parent is a trumper and owns a small business and they hate the idea that their workers might want to have a life, take off from work for their kids sick days, work remotely occasionally, have any sort of work life balance. They say they support my fed career, but it’s clear they’re just supporting it for me as their chikd and they generally hate the fed career path.

I agree that PP was on to at least some if the reason for the fed hate (that plus the inevitable bad apples present in any workforce that the fed is not magically exempt from). Why does the Dem party not work on that policy and messaging to attempt to woo back working class voters? Become the party of workers rights again instead of engaging in culture wars?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of a sudden fed workers are killing themselves with 80-hour weeks for the good of the country. What a bunch of crap.

I’m a fed attorney and I’ll admit I’m not working more than 40 hours (unless I’m earning comp time to use later). Can’t speak for other agencies, but yes there are a lot of feds I know working 40 hour weeks.

But I chose this instead of private sector because I’m a mom and wanted work/life balance. The trade off is less money. Taxpayers get what they pay for. You want someone working law firm hours then cough up law firm pay. I don’t think they’d be happy about that. Just besides we are civil servants doesn’t mean we owe you are labor for below market rate. I care about my agency’s mission, but it’s also a job. Most people are balancing pay/benefits/flexibility when choosing their careers (particularly people with advanced degrees from good institutions). This isn’t unique to the public sector.

+1

I'm not a fed, but I support you 100%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to any pickleball courts in the DMV and you will find A LOT of remote Fed workers playing pickleball during normal work hours. There are also A LOT of remote Fed workers at public golf courses during normal work hours. I have played with so many of them for the past five years. They book the golf tee times under their spouse's names, so that it can not be traced back to them.

Please like Feds have the money for even regular play on a public course.

They definitely do, especially those GS-14/15 with specialized pay. I know several GS-14 people at DHS making over 212K/yr. Public golf courses in Fairfax County are very affordable. It costs $39 for an 18-hole round of golf. When a Fed works remotely, he/she saves money on lunch & transportation, and use that money for golf. It's not that hard to understand.

Do tell where your friends are earning $212k a year as GS14s. I am a 14 in the DC area and the pay scale tops out at $181k. Despite my Ph.D. from a top 5 program I earn considerably less than that even after multiple years with the government. Looking at the locality table it tops out at $187k for New York. I call BS. I suspect the rest of your post is just as accurate.

​For someone with a Ph.D., it is unbelievable that you don't even know this, and you're a Fed. Your Ph.D. should be revoked. LOL....

The DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has special pay for people who are specialized in cybersecurity. I joined CISA in 2021 as a GS-14 step 6. After one year, my salary was increased by 25%, and I also received about 8K in bonuses. In 2024, I am at GS-14 step 7 ($167,276 x 1.25 = $208.75K + $8K bonus = 216K). FWIW, I only have a BS degree in Computer Engineering from UVA.

NP but this is a dumb take.

Also, great job with letting the Russian bots and trolls destroy our democracy! Your BS should be revoked…

How is it a dumb take? CISA does pay a GS-14 more than 212K/year.

It’s dumb to think that all 2 million Federal employees (and/or every single person with a Ph.D. I guess?) who work for a variety of agencies should know the weird pay scale of a random cyber security agency that they themselves don’t work for or interact with. Obviously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to any pickleball courts in the DMV and you will find A LOT of remote Fed workers playing pickleball during normal work hours. There are also A LOT of remote Fed workers at public golf courses during normal work hours. I have played with so many of them for the past five years. They book the golf tee times under their spouse's names, so that it can not be traced back to them.

Please like Feds have the money for even regular play on a public course.

They definitely do, especially those GS-14/15 with specialized pay. I know several GS-14 people at DHS making over 212K/yr. Public golf courses in Fairfax County are very affordable. It costs $39 for an 18-hole round of golf. When a Fed works remotely, he/she saves money on lunch & transportation, and use that money for golf. It's not that hard to understand.

Do tell where your friends are earning $212k a year as GS14s. I am a 14 in the DC area and the pay scale tops out at $181k. Despite my Ph.D. from a top 5 program I earn considerably less than that even after multiple years with the government. Looking at the locality table it tops out at $187k for New York. I call BS. I suspect the rest of your post is just as accurate.

​For someone with a Ph.D., it is unbelievable that you don't even know this, and you're a Fed. Your Ph.D. should be revoked. LOL....

The DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has special pay for people who are specialized in cybersecurity. I joined CISA in 2021 as a GS-14 step 6. After one year, my salary was increased by 25%, and I also received about 8K in bonuses. In 2024, I am at GS-14 step 7 ($167,276 x 1.25 = $208.75K + $8K bonus = 216K). FWIW, I only have a BS degree in Computer Engineering from UVA.

I imagine the GS-14 PhD from the top five program gets corrected a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I attend industry conferences that have a focus on recruiting in various fields, depending on the conference. Some of these conferences run through Saturday. The recruiters for fed agencies always pack up their table and fly back on Friday since no way they are going to work outside of their standard hours. The private sector people all stay the final day (and get more recruits because of it).

We just have a laugh about it. It's more than one agency, but they all seem to do it. I don't doubt plenty of Feds do work hard, but no one if private industry would get away with leaving a conference a day early like that.

They might not have approval for those additional hours and other associated costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the poster who wrote about the feds being the last bastion of the MC 40 hour work life balance workweek, spot on. I can’t agree with this more. This is where the resentment comes from, from both the working class and the wealthy elites. They all hate it. My parent is a trumper and owns a small business and they hate the idea that their workers might want to have a life, take off from work for their kids sick days, work remotely occasionally, have any sort of work life balance. They say they support my fed career, but it’s clear they’re just supporting it for me as their chikd and they generally hate the fed career path.

I agree that PP was on to at least some if the reason for the fed hate (that plus the inevitable bad apples present in any workforce that the fed is not magically exempt from). Why does the Dem party not work on that policy and messaging to attempt to woo back working class voters? Become the party of workers rights again instead of engaging in culture wars?

For the same reason that Biden’s chief of staff freaked out about remote work and insisted on RTO. Or the reason Kamala’s brother in law told her to lay off the anti-ceo jargon- it made CEOs uncomfortable! Corporate executives control the Democratic Party and would rather lose than give workers more power.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to any pickleball courts in the DMV and you will find A LOT of remote Fed workers playing pickleball during normal work hours. There are also A LOT of remote Fed workers at public golf courses during normal work hours. I have played with so many of them for the past five years. They book the golf tee times under their spouse's names, so that it can not be traced back to them.

Please like Feds have the money for even regular play on a public course.

They definitely do, especially those GS-14/15 with specialized pay. I know several GS-14 people at DHS making over 212K/yr. Public golf courses in Fairfax County are very affordable. It costs $39 for an 18-hole round of golf. When a Fed works remotely, he/she saves money on lunch & transportation, and use that money for golf. It's not that hard to understand.

Do tell where your friends are earning $212k a year as GS14s. I am a 14 in the DC area and the pay scale tops out at $181k. Despite my Ph.D. from a top 5 program I earn considerably less than that even after multiple years with the government. Looking at the locality table it tops out at $187k for New York. I call BS. I suspect the rest of your post is just as accurate.

​For someone with a Ph.D., it is unbelievable that you don't even know this, and you're a Fed. Your Ph.D. should be revoked. LOL....

The DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has special pay for people who are specialized in cybersecurity. I joined CISA in 2021 as a GS-14 step 6. After one year, my salary was increased by 25%, and I also received about 8K in bonuses. In 2024, I am at GS-14 step 7 ($167,276 x 1.25 = $208.75K + $8K bonus = 216K). FWIW, I only have a BS degree in Computer Engineering from UVA.

I imagine the GS-14 PhD from the top five program gets corrected a lot.

I’m that PP and I do get corrected a lot! I am wrong sometimes apparently including now. At every Agency I have worked at or known people the specialized payscalea have different names. Because there’s a lot of public perception that most feds should not earn that much. Our exceptions are mostly medical officers or people hired through different hiring mechanisms.

Anyway apparently you know tons of these cybersecurity people who talk about their pay in great detail (?) and also go golfing nonstop. I stand by the main point of my post which is that the vast majority of GS pay scale employees are not earning that $$ regardless of their education or what they would earn in industry.