Taxpayer Protection Pledge
ATR's Congressional Ratings
An American Agenda: Vote for Your Priorities
Invite Grover Norquist to Speak at Your School or Event
INDEX

Updated: How Much Does It Cost To Hire a New Federal Employee?

From Ryan Ellis on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 3:48 PM
Add to Reddit Add to Stumbleupon Add to Delicious Add to Digg Add to Facebook Add to Twitter

When politicians claim that they will save money by “in-sourcing” federal functions from contractors, or will respond to some new need by expanding the federal workforce, that has a cost to taxpayers.  How much is that cost?

In order to determine the cost of hiring a new federal bureaucrat, ATR has calculated the “all-in” cost of hiring a new employee.  We include salary as well as benefits, pension contributions, and payroll taxes.  We assume a 40-year federal career.  The numbers presented are both nominal and inflation-adjusted.  A COLA is assumed which is equal to the average level in the Washington, DC area for the past five years.

Here are the results for a low-cost, medium-cost, and high-cost employee:  

  Low Cost (GS-7) Intermediate Cost (GS-11) High Cost (GS-15)
Nominal $4.73 million $7 million $13.86 million

Inflation-Adjusted

$2.73 million $4.04 million $8 million
  • The federal general pay schedule for the Washington, DC area is used
     
  • There are separate estimates for low-cost (GS-7), intermediate-cost (GS-11) and high-cost (GS-15) employees.  This was recommended as appropriate levels by former administration officials to give a sense of scope
     
  • The employee is assigned a “Step 5” in the GS table for a 40-year career.  As employees move up the GS-scale, their steps bounce up and down.
     
  • The five-year moving average for this locality’s COLA is 3.55%, so that is assumed to be the COLA rate going forward
     
  • In order to account for benefits, pension contributions, and payroll taxes, the GS dollar levels are increased by 33 percent, which was standard budgeting practice in the Department of Labor in the Bush Administration
     
  • The dollar value is expressed in nominal terms and after-inflation (2.5%)


PDF Version

Permalink | Email | Print | Tags: TAXES, SPENDING, LABOR, Federal

Related Articles

Rusty Bowers Signs the Taxpayer Protection Pledge for AZ-01 Race - Thursday, March 11, 2010 5:46 PM

ATR Supports H.R. 4781, the
"Keeping American Businesses
Competitive Act of 2010"
- Thursday, March 11, 2010 5:21 PM

Tell Virginia Legislators: No New Taxes in the Budget - Thursday, March 11, 2010 5:00 PM

Economic Issues Dominate at the Bloggers Briefing - Thursday, March 11, 2010 1:14 PM

Pushback Against EPA’s Attempts to Regulate Carbon Emissions Grows - Thursday, March 11, 2010 11:59 AM

Comments

This is only half the equation. To come to any kind of meaningful conclusion, you have to also examine what it would cost to outsource to a contractor. In the Washington, DC, area (as used in your example), I think you'll find the costs to use contractor labor for the same functions would be at least 150% that of using federal employees. Bottom line: While less government is certainly preferable, for those inherently governmental tasks that must be accomplished, using federal employees is generally the more economical approach.
>> Bruce L. Sunday, January 31, 2010 3:33 PM

Add a Comment


CAPTCHA Image
Add me to the ATR Newsletter list (If you are already on the list, you will not be subscribed a second time.)
Notify me when others comment on this article.