Advocacy groups raise concerns about federal pay system amid growing wage gap

Federal employees’ wages are falling further behind those in the private sector, according to new data from the Federal Salary Council.The council reported that in 2022, federal workers earned 24.09% less in wages alone than their private sector counterparts. In 2021, the pay gap by the same measurement was 22.47%. In comparison, the Biden administration’s federal pay raise request is 4.6% for next year, composed of a 4.1% overall increase and a 0.5% pay locality increase. The National Treasury Employees Union, in light of the council’s report, reemphasized its push for an even larger federal pay increase in 2023.