10 Highest Paid Gov't Jobs

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  • Les Gawlik

    Ultimate Member
    Apr 2, 2009
    3,384
    How about the head of National Public Radio- $1.2 Million, or
    the head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting- $600,000.00.

    I consider those to be government jobs. Yes, I know they say that only a small percentage of their money comes from the taxpayer, but they don't abide by the same rules as real businesses. And, if it's such a small percentage, they won't miss it when we take it away.
     

    K31

    "Part of that Ultra MAGA Crowd"
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 15, 2006
    35,632
    AA county
    The GS schedule is adjusted based on geographic location. The Baltimore/DC locality pay bumps the pay scale up accordingly due to cost of living. As another poster said, the executive scale is another thing altogether- Senior Executive Service (SES).

    In order for a thousand SESr's to be in one location they'd have to have the majority of them.
     

    ATTom

    Active Member
    Aug 17, 2010
    958
    They aren't General Schedule employees. They're on the Executive Schedule, and Judges are always paid differently.

    and BTW- A GS-15 Step 10 makes 156K[/QUOT


    He was refering to IT guys making 125k. Not judges. I call bs on 100 it guys making 125k a year.
     

    Schwabe

    Ultimate Member
    Nov 20, 2010
    3,936
    Sho'a
    Almost all the contractors here make $90-$120k, nobody would switch the side if they did not make at least equal. And they all got a nice bump when they went Federal. Everybody on the Federal IT side is GS14 or 15. This is the third Federal Agency I am working at. I am obviously not talking about help desk or desk top installations either. This is not your entry level, wooohoo I got my MCSE kind of job. Here is nobody with less then 10 years of engineering experience in various fields.
     

    Mike OTDP

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 12, 2008
    3,318
    $125K/year is GS-14 pay. Well up the food chain...pretty well as high as you can go without going into management.
     

    wlc

    Ultimate Member
    Nov 13, 2006
    3,521
    It may seem like a lot of money, but actually all those people could make a lot more in the private sector
     

    kronusthebonus

    Jackwagon
    Jul 26, 2010
    653
    Hampstead
    It may seem like a lot of money, but actually all those people could make a lot more in the private sector

    For the Federal IT Sector, that is definitely true, as I am one of them who would rather take lesser pay (and benefits, mind you) for job security.
     

    Blaster229

    God loves you, I don't.
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 14, 2010
    46,409
    Glen Burnie
    How about the head of National Public Radio- $1.2 Million, or
    the head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting- $600,000.00.

    I consider those to be government jobs. Yes, I know they say that only a small percentage of their money comes from the taxpayer, but they don't abide by the same rules as real businesses. And, if it's such a small percentage, they won't miss it when we take it away.

    Then you must consider the CEO's of airlines and railroads gov't employees too?
     

    ericoak

    don't drop Aboma on me
    Feb 20, 2010
    6,806
    Howard County
    I remember it was exposed last year that the director of the smithsonian or something like that was making $900,000 a year plus charging tax payers for a pool.
     

    Minuteman

    Member
    BANNED!!!
    At a recent new government employee orientation (oath swearing ++), the new employees were informed that there were 7 formal candidates for each of those actually hired. Also I know some gov employeees (rank and file, not top execs) take pay cuts, or pass on higher salary positions in private industry. Some of these people are very selfless, uniquely qualified, and dedicated.

    Putting politics aside for a moment, other than elected or appointed positions, the vast majority of government employees I've seen do perform and provide a valuable service to our great nation.

    Having said that, I must confess, my personal libertarian leaning view of the world might be a little more optimistic than some. Your mileage may vary :)
     

    kronusthebonus

    Jackwagon
    Jul 26, 2010
    653
    Hampstead
    At a recent new government employee orientation (oath swearing ++), the new employees were informed that there were 7 formal candidates for each of those actually hired. Also I know some gov employeees (rank and file, not top execs) take pay cuts, or pass on higher salary positions in private industry. Some of these people are very selfless, uniquely qualified, and dedicated.

    Putting politics aside for a moment, other than elected or appointed positions, the vast majority of government employees I've seen do perform and provide a valuable service to our great nation.

    Having said that, I must confess, my personal libertarian leaning view of the world might be a little more optimistic than some. Your mileage may vary :)

    Here's what it is, in a nutshell.

    Generally, those working for the Govt with specialized education and skills, such as IT, Law, Science, Medical, etc... all take less money (much less in some fields) in return for job security, work environment, etc...

    It is those jobs which require little to no skill or specialized education that ARE overpaid in regards to their private sector workers.

    However, hard line Republicans and enemies of public sector workers use these statistical differences in their arguments against public employees.

    I work in small IT shop, and I can tell you that all of us would be making a lot more money out in the private sector.

    All of those who are on crusades to beat down the public sector employee need to think hard about it, because do you really want good scientists, doctors, programmers, air traffic controllers for instance being disgruntled and leaving for greener pastures ? Obviously the Government needs highly skilled workers too, the public demands it.

    Keep pushing public sector employees and public services will suffer. Then we'll really see some bitching.
     

    miben

    Active Member
    Sep 29, 2007
    444
    NC formerly Eldersburg MD
    inaccurate generalizations

    "Nobody on the Federal IT side at the small agency I am working at makes less than $125K a year and there are hundreds. "

    That's certainly not the norm and highly questionable-- that's the problem with these generalizations They would have to be GS-14's step 7 to reach that level. That would mean approximately 20 years of service, maybe less if highly skilled and came in with an IT degree. That level would have and responisibility for a major system's operation and ongoing maintenance which means up to date knowledge, not 2 or 3 years ago. Techinical GS 14's are not common, 90% are management positions that oversee lower grade entry level technicians. Check out the qualification in usajobs.com. Entry level IT is GS-9 in most agencies start around $50,000 and require a certification or degree. Private industry hires at higher levels on average. Its also unlikely that a small agency would have hundreds of IT specialists at GS 14, a large agency that is heavily IT dependent I could see a few hundred.
     

    ericoak

    don't drop Aboma on me
    Feb 20, 2010
    6,806
    Howard County
    Well I know when my mom reaches her time at NSA she will then get a paid pension from the government for the rest of her life. Maybe that used to work, but I fail to see the government can afford that when people are now routinely living 20-30 years after retirement.

    I am 23 and I think even public pensions won't exist when reach retirement age.
     

    Schwabe

    Ultimate Member
    Nov 20, 2010
    3,936
    Sho'a
    None of the Feds at my agency do any technical work. Every Fed has to run their own project and uses contractors to actually do the work. They all were highly skilled IT contractors and now all turn into PMP, ITIL managers simply running the entire design and documentation process of IT upgrades and new implementations. None of them have access to any IT related resource, all admin access resides on the contrator side.
    You can all cry what you want, I am not saying this is true for other agencies. Even when I was at the Library of Congress about 7-8 years ago my friends were highered there to a GS14 and GS15 position back then.
    What ever the general rule for GS level and step is or whatever specific rule you have at other agencies may or may not apply. But 20 years of experience might apply to somebody in an administrative position and who has gone through the entire GOV career process it most certainly does not apply when you are talking about specific IT skills you cannot just pick off of Monster. People with 10 years experience are not taking a GS12 or 13 job that pays less than what they are making now.
     

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