Op here - thanks for the responses. I said no last night and they asked what might entice me to leave. I could counter with a higher salary request, more flexibility on pay, other benefits, etc. At my salary and benefits what would entice you to go?

No way

Depends on your field but probably not. The first PP broke down the true financial benefits analysis pretty well.

Also, depends on your field. I am in the international relations field, and no one pays as well as the feds or has work that is as interesting, so it makes sense for me to stay. I have friends who left and have tried desperately to get back in for years, even with connections. I switched agencies, and even my old agency will be hard to get back into.

Anonymous wrote:I'd definitely leave for more money and did just that. Worked out great for me.

I saw many feds leave for better paying jobs outside. Most get it through connections though.

Anonymous wrote:I have a secure federal job, after 14 years I make $158k and always imagined I'd stay until retirement. One of our contractors just asked me if I'd consider doing virtually the same job for them for over $200kthough in guessing the benefits aren't as good and the company is smaller and less secure. Would you consider leaving federal employment under these circumstances?

NOOOOOOOOOOOO! Coming from a contractor who made over 200k for many years. Contractors come and go, and Fed RFQ's get rewritten all the time, so whats currently budget this year, may change next year. Hi GS14's & 15's r golden in this crazy economy. Stay put.....

Since it's the same job, no. Contractor jobs are not secure at all. If it was a more interesting job, then this would be a different conversation. I left a Fed job due to extreme boredom and fed hiring was so tight there was nothing much else available. I don't regret it but then I made less money than you do. I also left knowing the chances of returning were extremely low and now under Trump, they're even lower.

I did, and regret it. I was feeling stuck. and bored. Took a risk, made more money but not hugely more (90 to 120k), but dislike my job intensely. can't go back now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I left and it was the best thing I ever did. I'm so much happier. I would die a slow, miserable death if I had to spend my whole career with my agency.

This people. Life is short. Before you realize that you will bury in a coffin or cremated in an urn. Change your life now. Do what you enjoy and money will come to you. Don't chase money.

Don't chase money? Working for gov is never about chasing money.

Anonymous wrote:I left and it was the best thing I ever did. I'm so much happier. I would die a slow, miserable death if I had to spend my whole career with my agency.

This people. Life is short. Before you realize that you will bury in a coffin or cremated in an urn. Change your life now. Do what you enjoy and money will come to you. Don't chase money.

I would not under your circumstances. To me, the difference in pay (which I would guess to be small when you take into account benefits and taxes) is not worth trading the security.

I wouldn't. I began as a contractor before becoming a federal employee and my DH is still a contractor (different agency from me). While our experiences were different, the instability was the same. There's no way I'd go back, at least the way things are right now.

I left and it was the best thing I ever did. I'm so much happier. I would die a slow, miserable death if I had to spend my whole career with my agency.

Hell to the no.

I wonder if the contractor job is really the same as what you're doing now. At my agency the contractors get the non-essential jobs - they aren't having nearly as much fun as I'm having, and are working on much easier more boring things. It's not the same job, even though we're on the same team working the same issue.

If it was more pay and more flexibility, I would take the job. Currently, my federal gov't job has very little flexibility which is tough with young children.