On April 19, Mike Causey, host of ‘Your Turn with Mike Causey’ on Federal News Network, wrote an article discussing the federal pay cap, the ever-growing salary compression, and its impact on recruitment and retention. He cited a discussion with an FMA member, who offered insights and how this issue affects a growing number of federal managers. FMA will push for a reasonable pay raise in 2023, supporting the FAIR Act (H.R. 6398 / S. 3518) and continue to urge Congress to address the problem of salary compression.

Causey wrote, "We also heard from an IRS employee and member of the Federal Managers Association on the West Coast who aspires to an executive level job. But as he points out, there isn’t much of an incentive (from a salary standpoint) to take it:

“I’m capped at the GS 15 level. I’ve spoken to senior managers about the problem. Basically, all we are doing is repairing a flat tire but not putting any air in it. Senior managers I’ve spoken to basically agree all we’re doing is repairing a flat tire, but not putting any air into the tire. Pretty soon the car/organization won’t be running at all. GS 15 has a decent salary but it’s not keeping up with cost of living. Many people at that level are not interested in moving up, and that hurts the whole organization. For lots of jobs, highly skilled tech positions, it is more difficult to hire and retain people. We haven’t done anything and while it can’t be cured overnight, we can make sure that everybody gets the full 2023 pay raise to at least keep things where they are. If executive pay can’t go up, there is less incentive to be an executive.”

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