Federal unions and other employee groups have weighed in on the two-year federal pay freeze President Obama announced on Monday, and most are not happy about it.
The Federal Managers Association said in a statement on Monday that while it's important that the government address the mounting deficit and ongoing economic challenges, those problems did not stem from rising and exorbitant federal employee salaries. Federal employees should not be forced to carry the burden, the group said.
The pay freeze "serves as a major deterrent to potential hires with critical expertise," FMA said. "Imagine trying to hire a highly-skilled job candidate, only to tell the potential employee there will be no pay raise for two years, regardless of job performance. Federal agencies will be unable to attract the best and brightest to civil service if the government institutes a blanket freeze on federal pay."
Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, also said in a statement that across-the-board freezes or cuts are rarely good management choices, in part because they avoid the real evaluation that needs to be done. He urged Congress and the administration to review the current compensation system and create one that is more sensitive to market fluctuations.
"We should not be overcompensating federal employees for the work that they do, but neither should we risk losing critical talent by undercompensating the highly skilled employees needed to carry out mission-critical activities," Stier said.
And finally, John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management, reminded employees that the pay freeze is "emblematic of the shared sacrifice we all will have to make if we are to bring the deficit to heel and preserve an economic future for our children."
What are your thoughts on the pay freeze? Will it go a long way in helping the government address its debt troubles, or could it have an adverse effect as FMA and the Partnership suggest?
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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