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Report: Government Spends Billions More Hiring Contractors Over Public Workers

iluvmyak

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Washington, D.C. (CBS) - As Washington's use of private contractors grows, the government is paying those contractors billions more than it would pay their government workers to do the same job, according to a new study released Tuesday..
In an attempt to verify frequently made claims that the government can save money by outsourcing its work, the nonprofit Project On Government Oversight (POGO) compared the total annual compensation for federal (and private sector) employees with federal contractor billing rates.

The group found that in 33 of the 35 occupational categories it reviewed, federal government employees were less expensive than contractors. On average, the federal government pays contractors 1.83 times more than it pays federal employees and two times more than what comparable workers in the private sector are paid.
For instance, the government on average pays contractors $299,374 for accounting services, while it pays federal employees $124,851 for accounting services. By comparison, workers in the private sector (not under contract by the government) make on average $83,132. The government on average pays contractors $198,411 for information technology management, while they pay federal workers $124,663.
That discrepancy is significant, given the federal government spends over $320 billion on service contracts each year, and about one-quarter of all discretionary spending goes to service contractors. According to POGO's report, the contractor workforce rose from an estimated 4.4 million in 1999 to 7.6 million in 2005 -- while the size of the federal employee workforce has remained relatively steady at about 2 million.
The POGO report stands as a rebuttal to reports such as the one released last year by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, which concluded that the average federal employee receives as much as 22 percent more in wages than an equally skilled private sector worker.
POGO's report contends that "the focus on comparing federal and private sector salaries needs to shift because they have nothing to do with what the government actually pays for services. Instead, the focus properly belongs on analyzing the full costs of paying contractors to perform federal services."
The American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees seized on the report to argue that the government should stop privatizing services.
"In the wake of the worst recession in our lifetime, federal, state and local governments should not be doling out billions of dollars to private contractors to perform services that can be done more efficiently and at lower cost by public workers," AFSCME President Gerald McEntee said in a statement.
In 2009, President Obama directed government agencies to review contracts to identify wasteful or inefficient efforts. However, Mr. Obama also signed a two-year federal pay freeze last year, making it more likely the government could turn to contractors. The 2012 Defense budget passed by the GOP-led House this year includes a "sense of Congress" provision that states that the Defense Department should only use in-house workers when the work involves inherently governmental functions.
POGO concludes that the government improve its data collection and reporting systems so it can better evaluate its private contracts. "The federal government has failed to determine how much money it saves or wastes by outsourcing, insourcing, or retaining services, and has no system for doing so," the report says.


I tried to do a search before posting to make sure this wasn't a repost, but did anyone else see this. The Tea Party had an agenda from the get go... passing the wealth to themselves and their friends.
 

nicoledee

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Not news. Government is just a big business. Why do most businesses hire contractors? So they are not responsible for employee benefits.
 

FemmeFataleNoir

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Ok...not to defend the tea party because I don't like them but what do they have to do with this? Also also when you look at the cost to outsource a job in lieu of hiring government workers, you have to factor in ( or out) the costs of benefits. The government would have to pay a federal workers medical, 401k etc, whereas you wouldn't have those expenses with a contract worker. And as long as the contract worker is a us citizen I don't see the problem. What we should be looking at is how the contracts are awarded and to whom. There's the real issue.
 

Ben Sisko

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The Tea Party had an agenda from the get go... passing the wealth to themselves and their friends.

So nice to see the word is getting out. People are waking up to the real goals and ultimate agenda of the Tea Party. PREACH!!!
 

DCKitty

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Ok...not to defend the tea party because I don't like them but what do they have to do with this? Also also when you look at the cost to outsource a job in lieu of hiring government workers, you have to factor in ( or out) the costs of benefits. The government would have to pay a federal workers medical, 401k etc, whereas you wouldn't have those expenses with a contract worker. And as long as the contract worker is a us citizen I don't see the problem. What we should be looking at is how the contracts are awarded and to whom. There's the real issue.

THANK YOU!!! It's nice to see someone on this board that has critical thinking skills. To add anything about the Tea Party to this piece is beyond silly. The government has been contracting WAY before there was ever a Tea Party. Not to mention that the article itself is not 100% factual. As you stated, if these people worked for the government directly, they would be responsible for their benefits as well as their pensions. And Government wages have increased so much over the years, in many occupations they are on parr with private sector workers.
 

hotsunset28

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I still don't understand this. There are probably more contractors in government than federal workers. I can see a 6mos-1yr urgent project where there are no on-board workers who possess the needed skills. But these contractors stay on for years. Why not just convert them? I know it has to do with budgets and staffing levels and all that, but I don't understand how it makes more budgeting sense to spend all that money on contractors (they typically make more than federal), when they can convert them and pay them GS scale salaries.
 

Mochagurl

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Contracting these jobs out is a HUGE waste of taxpayer money! Republicans are hellbent on destroying government jobs, by turning everything over to private contractors who are beholden to no one but themselves.

Read this the following book by Thomas Franks; The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Ruined Government, Enriched Themselves, and Beggared the Nation

Or listen to a sample of the audio version here; Thomas Frank » Books » The Wrecking Crew
 

Dre22Era

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no duh
i am also a on site contractor
keep throwing us the money :)
however i would love to switch over to the government
that's my objective as people that work my same position get to work from
home twice a week. no fair!
 

FemmeFataleNoir

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Contracting these jobs out is a HUGE waste of taxpayer money! Republicans are hellbent on destroying government jobs, by turning everything over to private contractors who are beholden to no one but themselves.

Read this the following book by Thomas Franks; The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Ruined Government, Enriched Themselves, and Beggared the Nation

Or listen to a sample of the audio version here; Thomas Frank » Books » The Wrecking Crew

Whats with the groaning? I agree with you on most things and I do agree the republican agenda is not the way government should be run, but how can you defend a statement that brings the tea party into the equation when the there is no link within the text of the story?
 

Ben Sisko

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THANK YOU!!! It's nice to see someone on this board that has critical thinking skills. To add anything about the Tea Party to this piece is beyond silly. The government has been contracting WAY before there was ever a Tea Party. Not to mention that the article itself is not 100% factual. As you stated, if these people worked for the government directly, they would be responsible for their benefits as well as their pensions. And Government wages have increased so much over the years, in many occupations they are on parr with private sector workers.

Critical thinking skills my hind parts, you only say that because they agree with you. The Tea Party is making this an issue because the true leaders of the Tea Party (Corporate America), would rather see those contracts go to THEM. Greedy bastards are trying to steal from their own government (YOU) and they are contracting an army of senseless drones to follow them. You are being deceived by them. Don't be deceived by the greed of the Tea Party.
 

Mochagurl

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Whats with the groaning? I agree with you on most things and I do agree the republican agenda is not the way government should be run, but how can you defend a statement that brings the tea party into the equation when the there is no link within the text of the story?

I groaned because I disagree with your post, secondly, the Tea Baggers don't have to be mentioned by name because conservatives have the same agenda.
 

BalaGirl

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The new working life, get used to it or get left behind ..This morning while listening to my local radio station,they had a special guest name Stephanie, I forget her last name ,but she has 18 yrs of Corp Accounting exp and for the last 6 yrs, she's runs her own firm .Before she started her opinion she said "I know yall won't like my point but here it goes.....She was calling out people who frowned upon Obama's job bill, she said if you're long term unemployed you must create your won job or take whats ever avail to you ...No company owe you the right to hire you ..She also said innovators and creators will get ahead despite the recession , and people who are waiting or a job or career will be crying 5 yrs from now ..The job market is shrinking and jobs are scares no matter how many yrs of exp and degrees you have ...She said everytime she speaks in this tone about creating your own, Black folks get upset ..The lady made a lot of valid points ..You cannot cry over a companies HIRING POLICY , you just can't.

I ain't going to lie, I rather hire contractors if I owned my own business , its saves me money ..
 

iluvmyak

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the Tea Baggers don't have to be mentioned by name because conservatives have the same agenda.

I mentioned the Tea Party because they are the party in the forefront that is kicking up all the dust about less government, less taxes for the rich and businesses will create jobs, blah blah blah... when all along they see opportunities to continue to get wealthy by tricking the American people into believing this type of garbage so they can (get rid of the governement who will not allow them to run amuck) make money hand over fist and drive out the middle class. They are the party who make big issues out of miniscule amount of money being spent on things such as planned parenthood so they can make people believe that programs such as that are draining the budget, when in fact, funds such as that are a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of what's actually spent.

Then also, I live in a State where certain moron's voted a Tea Bagger as govenor and are now regretting that mistake because of the types of things he's trying to do (like what's in the article). They don't have to be directly mentioned by the article to be referenced as what that party stands for; big business at any cost. Less governement, outsourcing...etc.

When they (Tea Party) reared their head with all this nonsense, I saw right through it. A hidden agenda group. Big Business. Let's see how much we can put in our pockets. Then we will send all the jobs to China and India so we don't have to pay out more in wages and benefits. Don't drink the Kool Aid...
 

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