4 ms·
Government STEM positions tend to be under paid vs the private sector. A lot of these people are taking a pay cut because they want to serve the greater good or
by jdavis703 5y ago
Government STEM positions tend to be under paid vs the private sector. A lot of these people are taking a pay cut because they want to serve the greater good or work on an interesting problem.
- prepend 5y agoIt depends on the position, TE are probably less than tech sector, but salary for PhDs in basic sciences are great in government (ie, biology PhD starting at gs12/13 is $120-150k). So if you want to do “science” then a government job is likely one of the highest paid jobs you can get.
- stonogo 5y agoYou may have misread the pay schedule. You'd have to be a GS14 in San Francisco to make $150k. In most of the country a GS12-qualified biologist would only bring in six figures at the highest stepping. Good universities and national labs (contractors, not DOE employees!) pay way better.
- prepend 5y agoYes, you’re right and I overestimated the pay. But it’s still good. It does vary by location [0], but is still good compared to universities, I’m not sure about National labs. For example, the first regional pay table for Albany has gs13s starting at $93k and topping out at $121k [1] and San Francisco starts at $112k and tops out at $146k [2]. [0] https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2021/general-schedule/ https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries... [1] https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/21Tables/html/AL.aspx https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries... [2] https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/21Tables/html/SF.aspx https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries...