Federal employees’ salaries lag their private-sector counterparts in comparable jobs by 22.47 percent on average, an advisory group said in a Friday report that noted the “pay gap” has held steady over the last two years.
The findings by the Federal Salary Council highlight the need for President Biden’s proposed 4.6 percent raise for federal employees, unions said.
“With the latest inflation figures, rising private sector wages and the new pay gap calculation, it is even more clear that federal employees need help keeping up with rising costs and the government needs help in recruiting and retaining skilled employees,” National Treasury Employees Union President Tony Reardon said in a statement.
The council calculates pay differences on a national average and by some four dozen city areas using Labor Department statistics on costs of labor — not costs of living — under a formula set by a federal pay law.
Assessments using other data sets and methods have reached much different conclusions, though. Some conservative and libertarian organizations have concluded that federal employees make more than private sector workers, while the Congressional Budget Office in 2017 found federal employees to be slightly ahead on average but behind among those with higher levels of education.
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