Government Hiking Tech Workers’ Pay

The federal government is raising salaries by as much as 33% for thousands of technology workers in an effort to better compete with private companies for such employees. The raises, which take effect Jan. 1, are aimed at hiring and retaining younger information technology workers and are tailored to pay competitively in the nation’s high-tech corridors. For example, workers in San Francisco would make $3,000 to $7,000 more annually than their counterparts in St. Louis or Pittsburgh. Currently, the government’s starting salaries for technology workers are about $12,000 less than at private companies. In more specialized jobs, the gap can be as much as $20,000. The raises affect 33,000 federal employees and range from 7% to 33%.