The simple reason why unionization is so much more prevalent for government workers is that a typical union—one that raises its members' compensation above market rates—can only succeed if the organization faces little or no competition.
But there some lucrative opportunities out there. According to data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the highest-paying government jobs outside of elective office have annual salaries of more than $85,000 and include jobs in a wide array of fields, including law, medicine, science, and finance.
This table shows the top 100 most well-paid occupations in the federal government in 2020, ranked by average pay. In 2020, the number one most well-paid job was "Medical Officer," with an average yearly pay of $251,055. The runner-up job, "Medical Officer," follows with an average of $251,055, which is a 0% decrease.
One of the jobs that provide a kind of security is a public sector job. According to the U.S Office of Personnel Management, the average government employee earns almost $85,000 per year. These employees are in a wide range of fields such as medicine, law, finance, and science.
A Federal Salary Council report from April shows white collar employees are underpaid by a superficially precise 26.71 percent but those reports are always silent on how well federal employees are paid relative to their counterparts in other sectors.
That argument continues today with experts saying feds are overpaid as much as 30% more than private sector workers doing the same jobs, while others using different yardsticks say feds are overpaid and over compensated by any measure.
The federal jobs usually offer higher pay, but the state jobs offer a higher retirement pension. somehow the whole deficit fiasco has been blown into public servants benefits. And they have done a very good job doing it.
Private jobs offer better working conditions:
Government jobs often have poor working conditions, such as cramped office space, outdated equipment, and low pay. In contrast, private-sector jobs often offer better working conditions, such as spacious offices, modern equipment, and competitive salaries.
The average federal employee now makes more than $66,000. In Washington the average is over $80,000. Obviously, many federal workers make much less and many make much more than the average.
The highest-paying job in the world, in a traditional sense, holds the number one spot in this article: anesthesiologist. They are also the only job listed above $300,000 a year. The list, however, does not take into account mega-CEOs like Warren Buffett and Jeff Bezos, who make considerably more than that.
All federal employees hired in 1984 or later pay Social Security taxes. This includes the president, the vice president, and members of Congress. It also includes federal judges and most political appointees.
There are a wide variety of positions within the federal government, including many that are consistently in demand and that provide high salaries. If you are interested in a career with the federal government, it might be helpful to learn more about these positions and what they pay.
Benefits are a crucial part of the federal job vs. private sector job conversation. As a general rule, the federal sector tends to have better benefits. These federal employee benefits include health benefits, vacation, sick leave, paid (especially federal) holidays, retirement, steady and consistent raises, etc.
Many people believe applying for a federal job is a difficult and complicated process, but it is actually very achievable. The search process for federal government jobs can last about 6-18 months, which can be lengthy for many people.
You can be a GS-12 with absolutely NO degree of any kind.
Unlike private jobs where companies take care of their employees, in government sector senior officials give a damn about their employees. Accountability in government jobs is very less. No one bothers because it is a state run enterprise and there is no concept of profit or loss.
Work stress
As we have seen above, the government sector has standard working hours. So, these working hours will give less work stress. The government jobs provide the best time frame to complete the work in time and in the best manner that is not possible in the private sector.
“It's not impossible to fire a federal employee. It happens every day.” Indeed, more than two dozen federal employees are fired every day, on average. The number of feds removed for performance or conduct hovers around 10,000 individuals annually, according to OPM statistics.
For the most part, the difficulty in firing deals with firing substandard performers. Conduct based actions do not receive nearly the same concern as performance-based actions. This is most likely because, justified or not, there is a belief that there are a lot of poor performers in the government.
Most people need 40 credits (10 years of work) to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits. As a Federal Employee, you pay full Social Security Taxes that is equal to 6.2% of your salary.
It is quite clear that private sector pays you more money than government. But why? Well! In private sector you are paid more because companies are earning more profit so they can pay you back.
Federal salaries are lower than the private sector by 23 percent, advisory council reports. (Mark Lennihan/AP The salaries of federal employees lag those of private-sector workers in comparable positions by about 23 percent, an advisory council reported Wednesday.)