Unfortunately a larger and larger part of federal staff are contractors, including most younger people I know who work for the Feds. Due to the misguided attemp

Unfortunately a larger and larger part of federal staff are contractors, including most younger people I know who work for the Feds. Due to the misguided attempts of Congress to reduce spending, it's much easier to hire a contractor with 50% (at least) overhead rather than just hire them directly. Heck, a guy I know used to be a federal hydrogeologist. Worked in a gov't office on a permanent basis, was supervised by government employees, etc. He literally just received his paychecks and talked to his de jure boss twice a year. For that, the contracting company actually charged more than his salary in overhead.