Trump moves to cap pay raise for civilian government workers at 1 percent

[BumRushDaShow]

14. As a now-retired fed after 30+ years, those "6 figures" are people who have been FTEs for decades

I.e., that is not "entry level" salary like many equivalent private sector positions, which the media likes to confuse the public about.

Most new federal employees with a college degree start at GS-5 or GS-7. If you are an entry-level clerk or other support position, you may end up coming in as a GS-1.

For example, one of the high-end Locality areas (NYC metro) is here and you can see the starting salaries for GS-5/Step 1 or GS-7 Step 1 - https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/20Tables/html/NY.aspx

The steps (assuming satisfactory performance) are 1 a year for each up to about Step 4, then it's 2 years between steps to I think to Step 7, and then 3 years between steps up to Step 10 and you max out.

In the private industry lingo - working for the federal government is akin to "deferred compensation". During the "Great Recession", we received no pay increase at all for several years and went through various shutdowns with idiots like Carnival Cruz reading "Green Eggs and Ham" on the floor of the Senate.