This is the reason why people choose to work for the feds, idiots. Feds get paid low when times.are good, but then they get paid consistently when times are bad. People eat the low salaries for the stability. You chose to take risk in the private sector. Now eat it.

Not everyone is taking a pay cut.

^^ Also, I’m at an agency that directly affects the public. Like many Feds, my job is even more important than ever right now.

I’m a fed married to someone the private sector who has had pay cut, so our household is experiencing some financial pain, which I’m sure makes OP positively gleeful.

Right now we have my stable income and benefits though, which helps the economy because we can pay our mortgage and keep paying our house cleaners even though they aren’t coming. We can continue to afford things like our pest control company, lawn guy, etc. who are able to still do some outside work for us. We take out from local restaurants. I just bought clothes from a friend’s boutique. If I take a pay cut too, it’s going to trickle down and not in a good way.

OP has no idea how economics works.

Absolutely not. I took a more than 50% pay cut when I left my old firm to work at a GS scale federal agency. I make significantly less than a first year lawyer in private practice, and at various times I have worked far more hours than I ever did in private practice. So, no.

If anything, this pandemic should highlight the need to attract and retain competent scientists and public health experts in the federal government.

Everyone isn't taking a pay cut and why should they take a pay cut if they are working. Government is different than private industry and you choose to work for a place that is giving pay cuts.

cut the defense budget, stop giving tax cuts to the wealthy- let's start there.

Feds had booming TSPs and most likely at least a three percent raise to look forward to in 2021. TSPs have been left in smoldering ruins and Trump will withdraw the one percent raise request (which Congress would have taken to theee perfect). And that’s that. The optics of giving feds any raise would be horrible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As was mentioned in another thread, the idea that most Feds take a huge pay cut to work for the government isn’t true, especially for attorneys. There is more truth to that for PhDs and certain researchers, although there are only so many private sector jobs in these fields, especially in DC.

It's true for me. I get recruiters contacting me all the time, but it just isn't worth giving up the security. Not everyone is a lawyer....get out of your bubble.

- Government Economist

I specifically mentioned particularly for attorneys. That hardly means I am in a bubble who thinks everyone is an attorney.

Okay. let's see who you are talking about.

You are talking about scientists who work for FDA doing contamination control, review of biological contamination of the food supply.
You are talking about scientists who work for CDC currently working on the federal response to the current crisis
You are talking about scientists and doctors who work for NIH in disease research, treatment and trials.
You are talking about scientists and engineers who work for NASA doing Earth science research and satellite imagery used to provide information about natural disasters like hurricanes and monsoons and build spacecraft and satellites that give us valuable data about conditions on earth.
You are talking about the very people who are currently working for Treasury and the IRS processing all of those stimulus checks and who have to respond to the three ring circus in the White House and Congress to handle the ridiculous amount of tax code changes, most of which are earmarks for special interests every year at the 11th hour and make sure that it doesn't change any of the forms and still make the tax year run smoothly.
You are talking about law enforcement in the FBI, Justice Department, ATF, and a host of other agencies that provide federal law enforcement.

And many, many more.

I know people involved in all of those areas who either took a pay cut to work for the federal government or have peers working in private business making significantly more. It is already very difficult to attract good talent to the federal government as the Feds pay quarters on the dollar for the same jobs. I work in a IT technical role for my agency. I already make less money that my peers in private industry AFTER they've taken pay cuts. I make between 25-75% lower than friends from college and post-college who went into the same line of work in private companies. I have friends that can take a 25% pay cut and still make significantly more than I do doing the same type of work.

So, if you start by paying us more like an industry standard, then you can start docking our pay in times of difficulty. And also make sure that the federal COLA and annual merit raises are out of the control of Congress and the POTUS to eliminate in every annual budget. Over the last 20 years, I've never noticed my peers in private industry having their annual merit raises frozen.

OP and people like them only see the federal workforce perks and never see the compromises that were made in accepting federal service. This is like a person who just donated blood for the first time going up to the person who donates regularly and telling them they haven't done enough and they need to donate again.

When the economy was booming and private sector folks were getting significant pay increases and raises, did you see Feds receiving those same increases? The answer is "No." So, why the double standard now? As a career Fed who is busting my ass, I resent the resentment!

I think you have a valid point. That said, I much prefer to see feds get paid (even if they are basically useless) than billionaires get handouts. The latter should receive the outrage!

Meanwhile, small business funding has run out and the local coffee shop owner is losing everything.

Sure.

Anonymous wrote:Gradual scale -- 5% for the less than 80K crowd -- and then ramping up (10%, 15%, 20%, 25%) for each 20 K increase in salary -- capped at 25%.

Then we can really say "We are all in it together"..

Bonus: money saved ($$$$) would help pay for the help needed by all the small businesses ...

If Congress takes back this $170 billion for real estate investors and hedge funds that was in the stimulus package then we can talk.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/trump-kushner-could-reap-pandemic-windfall/

There's always money for the rich. Those of us in the middle don't need to start advocating to take from each other.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just moved from private sector to fed and took a 30% pay cut. You want me to take another 25% pay cut why? I already can’t afford a house in the DC area. We’d lose our best employees at the time they’re needed most of you make it even harder for us to afford this region.

Where exactly would these best employees go right now? All the companies that have laid off much of their workforce?

Plenty of places haven’t made cuts, like most of tech. I came from tech, I’d go back. And those who couldn’t find a job immediately would jump the second they could. I took a pay cut because I believe in public service and because my job is essential. But if I literally cannot live in DC on that salary, then I can’t stay. It’s tough enough now and I know not to expect any raises in the foreseeable future.

This whole thread is bred of jealousy and short term thinking. Feds in USPS, HHS, DoT and so many other places are working their a$$ off but you just want them to suffer for no reason.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even if it wouldn’t save that much money, as a matter of principle it would be nice to see Feds share in the pain much of the rest of the country is experiencing. Being above the forces that affect everyone else in the country feeds into the notion that Feds are a protected class above all others.

It would be nice if other people felt pain? Da fuq?

Yes, is the concept of shared sacrifice that foreign to you?

LOL. What a dumb a$$. That's not what "shared sacrifice" means. Go read books. STupid.