Government: "To Hire and Retain Good Employees"

Bob Spiers' blog featured an interesting story on the disparity--which continues unabated, I might add--between public and private sector employees, from the 56-page tome by the Fraser Institute. 

Following my last blog post (and its sad attempt at humour in detailing various taxes), it's only fair (tongue set firmly in cheek) to be reminded just how much better (not just more dollars) the bureaucratic life is when compared to those in the private sector.

"...government workers retire earlier than their private sector counterparts—about 2.3 years earlier on average—and are much less likely to lose their jobs

 (3.8 percent in the private sector versus 0.5 percent in the public sector).

(and)
...Full-time workers in the government sector lost more work time in 2015 for personal reasons (12.7 days on average) than their private sector counterparts (7.8 days)" 

Disparities even exist among the comparisons!
But one thing is certain.
The public trough is a resplendent vessel.

"...the country needs a new institutional framework

 that is fair to both taxpayers

 and public sector workers"

                the Fraser Institute                     

An undated (probably 2015?) Fraser Institute chart.

Yup, life is good for bureaucrats.
One of the best benefits is the Defined Benefit pension plan, a gold-plated pension that less than half of private employers can today afford to offer their employees.  Others have gone "contributory", if a pension exists at all.

Bob's blog quotes research:
"Using data on individual workers from January to December 2015, this report estimates the wage differential between the government and private sectors in Canada. It also evaluates four available non-wage benefits in an attempt to quantify compensation differences between the two sectors.

After controlling for such factors as gender, age, marital status, education, tenure, size of firm, type of job, industry, and occupation, Canada’s government sector workers (from the federal, provincial, and local governments) were found to enjoy a 10.6 percent wage premium, on average, over their private sector counterparts in 2015. When unionization status is factored into the analysis, the wage premium for the government sector declines to 7.2 percent.

The available data on non-wage benefits suggest that the government sector enjoys an advantage over the private sector. For example, 89.3 percent of government workers in Canada are covered by a registered pension plan, compared to 23.8 percent of private sector workers. Of those covered by a registered pension plan, 93.7 percent of government workers enjoyed a defined benefit pension compared to just under half (45.0 percent) of private sector workers.

In addition, government workers retire earlier than their private sector counterparts—about 2.3 years earlier on average—and are much less likely to lose their jobs (3.8 percent in the private sector versus 0.5 percent in the public sector).
Moreover, full-time workers in the government sector lost more work time in 2015 for personal reasons (12.7 days on average) than their private sector counterparts (7.8 days)" 


Is there a solution to disparities?
The Fraser Report states "...the country needs a new institutional framework that is fair to both taxpayers and public sector workers" (on page 38 of 56).

Canada and the U.S. differ vastly in remuneration and benefits for the two categories.
While no comparable charts (comparing chickens to chickens) exist, the disparity in the U.S. is not as large as in Canada.

There's a move afoot in the U.S. to reduce the costs of federal worker pay and benefits.  Wonder what'll happen to that plan under the new administration in 2017!

But there is certainly no shortage of charts:

U.S.A. chart

And there are certainly differences among private and government benefits for those with higher education:

So how can private sector employers compete for workers?

U.S.A. (any Canadian comparison wouldn't have $90K as the ceiling!)

Benefit increases in Canada

"The government's yadda yadda is an excuse for their inability to keep wages in line with the private sector," Kia would've said, "and is the reason the private sector cannot attract and retain the best employees."

A resplendent vessel it is...that government job.

The resplendent vessel is a government job.

 

“The government is merely a servant – merely a temporary servant. It cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn’t. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them.” – Mark Twain