Stock Market is tanking!

[vince77]

next year or two are gonna be tough for poor people. Prices aren't coming down. Everyone clamored for higher wages and better benefits, this is the result. Of course Biden choosing to ignore inflation during his entire first year in office is just making it worse.

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

next year or two are gonna be tough for poor people. Prices aren't coming down. Everyone clamored for higher wages and better benefits, this is the result. Of course Biden choosing to ignore inflation during his entire first year in office is just making it worse.

Who did? Are you referring to government employees? Because it sure has not happened in the private sector as wages for the private individual have lagged behind inflation, forever.

 

[spr1975wshs]

For your consideration ...



Who did? Are you referring to government employees? Because it sure has not happened in the private sector as wages for the private individual have lagged behind inflation, forever.

I got $0.72 at Lowe's last year, 1st increase in about 6 years as I am "topped out" for my position.

 

[Clem72]

For your consideration ...



Who did? Are you referring to government employees? Because it sure has not happened in the private sector as wages for the private individual have lagged behind inflation, forever.

Do you not recall basically every minimum wage job demanding double-pay when people were needed to come back to work after the lockdowns? No, most higher paying blue collar and white collar jobs didn't get a raise to match inflation, but i'm pretty sure the fast food worker that jumped from $10.50 to $17 made out pretty well.

 

[HemiHauler]

Do you not recall basically every minimum wage job demanding double-pay when people were needed to come back to work after the lockdowns? No, most higher paying blue collar and white collar jobs didn't get a raise to match inflation, but i'm pretty sure the fast food worker that jumped from $10.50 to $17 made out pretty well.

But @LightRoasted is really talking about nominal vs. real wages. Nominal wages absolutely increased. Real wages (adjusted for inflation) not so much.

 

[Clem72]

But @LightRoasted is really talking about nominal vs. real wages. Nominal wages absolutely increased. Real wages (adjusted for inflation) not so much.

Inflation was what 8 or 11 percent last year depending on who you believe. About half that the year before. So it will be a while before those guys that just got 70-80% wage increase lose out on the deal.

And the govvies always lose at the end of the year. They are supposed to use the chained-CPI (already a low indicator of inflation) to identify a yearly wage increase (they say ITS NOT A COLA!), but every year either the president or congress overrides it with a lower value. Every year. So the government employees lose wages every year regardless of how the economy/inflation is going except the rare case that there was actual deflation and they got a 0% raise instead of a decrease in pay.

 

[Toxick]

Who did?

Seriously?

 

[OccamsRazor]

Average cost of living increases for the last 25 years has been what..... 3.5%?? Can anyone on here that collects an hourly wage/salary really say that their pay has increased at least 3.5% every year?

 

[HemiHauler]

Inflation was what 8 or 11 percent last year depending on who you believe. About half that the year before. So it will be a while before those guys that just got 70-80% wage increase lose out on the deal.

And the govvies always lose at the end of the year. They are supposed to use the chained-CPI (already a low indicator of inflation) to identify a yearly wage increase (they say ITS NOT A COLA!), but every year either the president or congress overrides it with a lower value. Every year. So the government employees lose wages every year regardless of how the economy/inflation is going except the rare case that there was actual deflation and they got a 0% raise instead of a decrease in pay.

Sure. But this is precisely why we measure these things in aggregate rather than look the observations 2 or 3 sigma out.

 

[phreddyp]

This is exactly why people start businesses

 

[PeoplesElbow]

Inflation was what 8 or 11 percent last year depending on who you believe. About half that the year before. So it will be a while before those guys that just got 70-80% wage increase lose out on the deal.

And the govvies always lose at the end of the year. They are supposed to use the chained-CPI (already a low indicator of inflation) to identify a yearly wage increase (they say ITS NOT A COLA!), but every year either the president or congress overrides it with a lower value. Every year. So the government employees lose wages every year regardless of how the economy/inflation is going except the rare case that there was actual deflation and they got a 0% raise instead of a decrease in pay.

Only those maxed out in their pay band are stuck with only the general pay increase, even then there is a bonus for those in the pay for performance scale. Granted the bonus is small compared to industry, but it's not insignificant if you perform well. My last bonus when I was maxed out in my old pay band was about $4500. The people rated as poor performers can get nothing at all.

 

[OccamsRazor]

Only those maxed out in their pay band are stuck with only the general pay increase, even then there is a bonus for those in the pay for performance scale. Granted the bonus is small compared to industry, but it's not insignificant if you perform well. My last bonus when I was maxed out in my old pay band was about $4500. The people rated as poor performers can get nothing at all.

Neighbor I know is a supervisor and has about 30-40 mixed GS-style and STRL-style employees below them. I was told that the STRL system is rather good when it comes to bonuses. GS on the other hand is still a "who you blow" system in that even the tip-top performers can be put in for big bonuses or promotions based on excellent performance but, it is often given to someone who knows someone's son/daughter/etc.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

Neighbor I know is a supervisor and has about 30-40 mixed GS-style and STRL-style employees below them. I was told that the STRL system is rather good when it comes to bonuses. GS on the other hand is still a "who you blow" system in that even the tip-top performers can be put in for big bonuses or promotions based on excellent performance but, it is often given to someone who knows someone's son/daughter/etc.

NSPS was better, GS-13 equivalents got 1.5x for OT, STRL just get straight time.

 

[OccamsRazor]

NSPS was better, GS-13 equivalents got 1.5x for OT, STRL just get straight time.

I was told that there is no OT. Regardless of what system you are under. Is that correct?
Regardless, I can see how someone who is motivated and going above and beyond can regress after so many years and just become mediocre.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

I was told that there is no OT. Regardless of what system you are under. Is that correct?
Regardless, I can see how someone who is motivated and going above and beyond can regress after so many years and just become mediocre.

Not true, I often work Saturdays supporting flights, no way in hell I'd do it for free. One year, when I was a GS-9 I worked 1000 hrs of OT.

 

[Clem72]

Only those maxed out in their pay band are stuck with only the general pay increase, even then there is a bonus for those in the pay for performance scale. Granted the bonus is small compared to industry, but it's not insignificant if you perform well. My last bonus when I was maxed out in my old pay band was about $4500. The people rated as poor performers can get nothing at all.

Meh, bonus instead of a base pay increase is not ideal. And there are lots of people stuck at the top of their "bands". Before I retired a majority of those I worked with were at the top of the 9-13 band with little hope of ever moving into a high grade unless they wanted to move into management, which being introverted engineering types wasn't their first choice. Feels like ever since this late 80s the overall push has been to get government types to leave federal service and become contractors. Gets them off the books and the more work that is done by contractors the more opportunity for the politicos to line their pockets.

 

[Gilligan]

Only those maxed out in their pay band are stuck with only the general pay increase,

I left the civvy service (in 1987) soon after it truly dawned on me that no matter how well I performed in my job, it didn't matter squat. Steps would come when the calender said they were due..end of story. Perf or "merit" bonuses were handed out only to those who were permanently maxxed out. I found that to be a real soul-crushing proposition.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

I left the civvy service (in 1987) soon after it truly dawned on me that no matter how well I performed in my job, it didn't matter squat. Steps would come when the calender said they were due..end of story. Perf or "merit" bonuses were handed out only to those who were permanently maxxed out. I found that to be a real soul-crushing proposition.

When I was still a GS, so early 2000s there was a budget for on the spot awards, typically got a $750 award once or twice a year. I took it on myself one year to develope training for a system we bought and got a special act award worth $2000 that year. It was a nice little bump to me at the time, but with as much OT as I worked then I wasn't hurting, even as a GS-9 right out of grad school.

 

[Gilligan]

When I was still a GS, so early 2000s there was a budget for on the spot awards, typically got a $750 award once or twice a year. I took it on myself one year to develope training for a system we bought and got a special act award worth $2000 that year. It was a nice little bump to me at the time, but with as much OT as I worked then I wasn't hurting, even as a GS-9 right out of grad school.

I started as a GS-5 in '85..got the bump to GS-7 in the normal 6 months and my GS-9 one year after that. As best I recall, I was making $18K and change as a GS-5 in '85 and somewhere in mid 20's when I left. LOL. Our group (Rockets and Missiles) had no OT..not one hour was allowed. About the only "bonus" system I recall was what we derisively called "bennie sugs"...where theoretically, if you proposed a change to product or process that could be proven to save Uncle Sam money, you would receive some small bit of that savings as a bonus payment. Never knew anyone that received one, but then I was only with the gummint for 2 years.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

I started as a GS-5 in '85..got the bump to GS-7 in the normal 6 months and my GS-9 one year after that. As best I recall, I was making $18K and change as a GS-5 in '85 and somewhere in mid 20's when I left. LOL. Our group (Rockets and Missiles) had no OT..not one hour was allowed.

My original offer was at GS-7 but I was told I could negotiate starting pay so I did. Started at 45k in 2000. My group got told we were working OT and you had to have a good excuse why you weren't or weren't working a certain amount. A few years ago I worked 40 over what would have been my three day weekend. (Starting Thursday evening with only a 2 hr notice)

I ended up having to get a pay waiver, without one you can't earn more than a GS-15 step 10 in a pay check or you just don't get paid for it. An SES has to sign off on that.