By Dr. J. Robert McClure III, JMI President & CEO
Oh to be a public sector employee…It used to be that those who went to work for the “government” were willing to trade higher compensation for a level of security in the job market. Those who chose to work in the private sector were willing to risk job security for potentially greater monetary gain – think small business owners, young lawyers or doctors, and entrepreneurs as opposed to public school teachers, bureaucrats or lawyers and doctors who worked for the state or the V.A.Those days, however, are long gone. Now, being a public sector employee is good livin’. In 2009, according to the Cato Institute, public sector jobs averaged 46 percent more in pay and benefits than did jobs in the private sector. When broken down, the public sector made 34 percent more in wages and a whopping 70 percent more in benefits which typically include paid leave, health insurance, and pension benefits.And job security? Well that hasn’t changed much with government employees. Since the economy cratered two years ago, the federal government has actually added jobs. In Florida, the percentage of lost private sector jobs is nearly the exact inverse to the growth of the number of government jobs in our state – roughly 8 percent.So if the public sector continues to grow, while the private sector continues to suffer what would be the consequences over the long-term? That’s an easy answer. Have you been keeping up with the riots in Greece lately? That is a glimpse of our future.
2010
