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Dec. 16th, 2009 05:26 amCompared to the suicide and disease friends have posted about today this seems like some piddly bullshit, but since it is in the (conservative) news:
"More feds get 6-figure salaries"
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-12-10-federal-pay-salaries_N.htm?csp=34
First off, my emotional reaction: fuckyou.
2nd, my reason for first: I am dying here, working my ass off for the bottom scrapings of the salaries I see listed for DC area lawyers. The idiots starting the article note the 6 figure jump from 14% of the workforce to 19% "before overtime pay and bonuses." Gubbies don't really get bonuses (they exist, but at less than 2% of salary while many posted salaries in the private sector have bonus ranges of 5-30%). What fucking bonus, and overtime? Really? Only hourly workers get that, and they are not in the 6-figure range at all.
The article is actually kind of reasonable (yay USA today, where a pie chart is law) once you get past the alarmist crap up front. They note that
1. the huge jump came from the Bush admin (raises of 3 and 4%) while the "liberal" Obama only gave 2%.
2. The defense dept was a big reason, with pay hikes to switch to a pay for performance system
3. paycaps...can't be a big deal?
What kills me are what they are missing - they compare the avg fed salary to the avg salary nationwide. This includes burger king workers and lifeguards. Fuckyou. Most fed workers, I'm guessing, are educated or long-term employees in skilled jobs. Most live in the DC-metro area, where salaries are not an average of $40,331. 6-figures doesn't mean a quarter million, it means scraping 100k - sounds nice if you live in Indiana, will not buy you a condo if you live in DC Metro.
I'd love to see the analysis include comparable: salary, education, job level / private sector comparison, and length of service mixed in with that. Prior articles are noticing the "brain drain" as people were leaving the government in droves because the private sector paid so much more that nobody joined the gummint. Now with the economy in the toilet, private sector doesn't look as good as a stable but low public sector job and many are returning - getting pay commiserate with their experience.
Fucking half-assed alarmist bullshit. Forgive me for making up to half of the big-wig lawyers in the area are pulling BEFORE THEIR REAL BONUS. It's so fucking annoying to work for the public and then be chastised for it. Show me one of those conservative yahoos that wants to take the money back from the Defense dept as we're at war? It was their anti-government sentiment that spawned the "pay for performance" movement as though all us gummint workers were lazy potatoes who sluffed through the seniority system and "couldn't be fired."
Half the story is always sensational.
Here are some local figures on lawyers for DC metro:
(gummint lawyers are typically around a GS-13 to GS-14, or 87k to 133k)
http://www.aboutlawschools.org/law/jobs/salaries/
In 2007, first-year associates by firm size is
68,000/year in small firms (2 to 25 Attorneys) to 130,000/year in very large firms (251 or more attorneys). The median starting salaries for first-year associates in firms of 251 or more lawyers: Chicago $145,000, Los Angeles $145,000, New York $160,000, and Washington, DC $145,000.
THAT'S JUST FIRST YEAR. AVERAGE.
Now whine about some douchebag fucking government lawyer "making 6 figures." Fuckyou.
Here's some more DC area lawyer salaries - almost all over 6 figures starting for first-year schmucks right out of school. EXCEPT ONE ONE TINY EXCEPTION:
United States Government $57,648 or about HALF the avg salary in private firms.
http://www.infirmation.com/shared/search/payscale-compare.tcl?city=Washington&usps_abbrev=DC
fuckyou
"More feds get 6-figure salaries"
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-12-10-federal-pay-salaries_N.htm?csp=34
First off, my emotional reaction: fuckyou.
2nd, my reason for first: I am dying here, working my ass off for the bottom scrapings of the salaries I see listed for DC area lawyers. The idiots starting the article note the 6 figure jump from 14% of the workforce to 19% "before overtime pay and bonuses." Gubbies don't really get bonuses (they exist, but at less than 2% of salary while many posted salaries in the private sector have bonus ranges of 5-30%). What fucking bonus, and overtime? Really? Only hourly workers get that, and they are not in the 6-figure range at all.
The article is actually kind of reasonable (yay USA today, where a pie chart is law) once you get past the alarmist crap up front. They note that
1. the huge jump came from the Bush admin (raises of 3 and 4%) while the "liberal" Obama only gave 2%.
2. The defense dept was a big reason, with pay hikes to switch to a pay for performance system
3. paycaps...can't be a big deal?
What kills me are what they are missing - they compare the avg fed salary to the avg salary nationwide. This includes burger king workers and lifeguards. Fuckyou. Most fed workers, I'm guessing, are educated or long-term employees in skilled jobs. Most live in the DC-metro area, where salaries are not an average of $40,331. 6-figures doesn't mean a quarter million, it means scraping 100k - sounds nice if you live in Indiana, will not buy you a condo if you live in DC Metro.
I'd love to see the analysis include comparable: salary, education, job level / private sector comparison, and length of service mixed in with that. Prior articles are noticing the "brain drain" as people were leaving the government in droves because the private sector paid so much more that nobody joined the gummint. Now with the economy in the toilet, private sector doesn't look as good as a stable but low public sector job and many are returning - getting pay commiserate with their experience.
Fucking half-assed alarmist bullshit. Forgive me for making up to half of the big-wig lawyers in the area are pulling BEFORE THEIR REAL BONUS. It's so fucking annoying to work for the public and then be chastised for it. Show me one of those conservative yahoos that wants to take the money back from the Defense dept as we're at war? It was their anti-government sentiment that spawned the "pay for performance" movement as though all us gummint workers were lazy potatoes who sluffed through the seniority system and "couldn't be fired."
Half the story is always sensational.
Here are some local figures on lawyers for DC metro:
(gummint lawyers are typically around a GS-13 to GS-14, or 87k to 133k)
http://www.aboutlawschools.org/law/jobs/salaries/
In 2007, first-year associates by firm size is
68,000/year in small firms (2 to 25 Attorneys) to 130,000/year in very large firms (251 or more attorneys). The median starting salaries for first-year associates in firms of 251 or more lawyers: Chicago $145,000, Los Angeles $145,000, New York $160,000, and Washington, DC $145,000.
THAT'S JUST FIRST YEAR. AVERAGE.
Now whine about some douchebag fucking government lawyer "making 6 figures." Fuckyou.
Here's some more DC area lawyer salaries - almost all over 6 figures starting for first-year schmucks right out of school. EXCEPT ONE ONE TINY EXCEPTION:
United States Government $57,648 or about HALF the avg salary in private firms.
http://www.infirmation.com/shared/search/payscale-compare.tcl?city=Washington&usps_abbrev=DC
fuckyou
