Public Sector Workers, Need for Pay Parity

Public sector workers working for the State of Michigan are subject to the myth that they are overpaid as opposed to the private sector. In a measure of 4 different job categories, the average pay in the private sector is significantly higher. Yet, ignoring these facts and the relatively small size of payroll as compared with the budget, elected officials are targeting budget cuts and seeking to balance the budget on the backs of public sector workers.

According to recent job descriptions from the State of Michigan, the minimum requirement for the ITPA-12 (Information Technology Programmer/Analyst, the job category representing over 2,000 State employees in the IT industry according the Lansing State Journal) is a four-year degree with three years experience. The starting salary for this position is $35,000 dollars, plus health, dental and vision insurance with an upper range of under $70,000 dollars after 10 years experience.

According to PayScale.com, in the title of Programmer/Analyst, the average salary of private sector workers with a four-year degree in Michigan with an average of three years experience is $68,000 dollars, plus profit sharing, bonuses, health, dental and vision insurance, with an average of $85,000 dollars after 10 years experience.

According to the data provided by the Lansing State Journal, the average wages of all IT-related state workers is $50,000. The average wages of all private sector workers in the IT industry with similar training and experience is $75,000. This results in a 33% lower payment to public sector workers working for the State of Michigan. The table shows additional job descriptions compared to data on PayScale.com.

	Public Sector	Private Sector
IT Programmer/Analyst (B.S.)	$35,000 - $68,000	$68,000 - $85,000
Engineer (B.S.)	$35,000 - $67,000	$52,000 - $84,000
Master Electrician (Licensed, Unionized)	$37,000 - $55,000	$42,000 - $60,000
Laboratory Scientist (Ph. D.)	$35,000 - $68,000	$62,000 - $95,000

According to the State Budget office, approximately $400 million dollars per year goes to paying the wages and benefits of each and every State of Michigan employee currently working for the state. With a budget of over $50 billion dollars, the wages of all State workers make up less than 0.8% of the State Budget.

Can politicians balance the budget on the back of State workers? No; it is by definition impossible. Will trying to do so hurt the economy and simultaneously lead to less effective government? Yes; by continuing to cut wages of public sector workers in the State of Michigan the best workers will be less likely to join State government and current employees will be spending less in the local economy.

Note: Data provided by the Lansing State Journal, State of Michigan and PayScale.com.