Senior Executive Service:
Answers to Selected Salary-Related Questions
GGD-87-36FS: Published: Jan 9, 1987. Publicly Released: Jan 9, 1987.
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In response to a congressional request, GAO provided information on Senior Executive Service (SES) salaries, specifically: (1) the importance of salary to SES members; (2) the importance of salary in decisions to leave SES; (3) the new employment areas of individuals who left SES; and (4) the amount of salary increase or decrease that former SES members received.
GAO found that: (1) as of December 31, 1985, of 380 SES members it questioned, 61 percent were dissatisfied with their present salary levels, 21 percent were satisfied, and 18 percent were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied; and (2) of 458 former SES members who indicated that salary was important in their decision to leave SES, 48 percent indicated that inadequate salary was of little or no importance, 14 percent said it was of moderate importance, 22 percent said it was of great importance, and 16 percent said it was not applicable in their decision to leave SES. GAO also found that, of the 316 former SES members who took new positions: (1) 49 percent indicated increased salaries, 27 percent reported that their salaries remained about the same, and 25 percent reported decreased salaries; (2) the salary increases varied between $1,000 and $3,000 to $50,000 or more; (3) the salary decreases varied from $1,000 to $50,000 or more; (4) self-employed individuals took greater salary decreases than did other former SES members; and (5) 33 percent took positions in business or industry, 26 percent in consulting, 17 percent in the federal government, 7 percent in nonprofit organizations, 6 percent in academia, 2 percent in state or local government, 1 percent in lobby organization, and 9 percent in other organizations.
Jan 12, 2021
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DHS Employee Morale:
Some Improvements Made, but Additional Actions Needed to Strengthen Employee EngagementGAO-21-204: Published: Jan 12, 2021. Publicly Released: Jan 12, 2021.
Sep 16, 2020
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Senior Executive Service:
Opportunities for Selected Agencies to Improve Their Career Reassignment ProcessesGAO-20-559: Published: Sep 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 16, 2020.
Feb 25, 2020
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State Department:
Additional Steps Are Needed to Identify Potential Barriers to DiversityGAO-20-237: Published: Jan 27, 2020. Publicly Released: Feb 25, 2020.
Dec 30, 2019
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Office of Congressional Workplace Rights:
Using Key Management Practices Would Help to Fully Implement Statutory RequirementsGAO-20-222: Published: Dec 30, 2019. Publicly Released: Dec 30, 2019.
Oct 10, 2019
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Department of Veterans Affairs:
Improved Succession Planning Would Help Address Long-Standing Workforce ProblemsGAO-20-15: Published: Oct 10, 2019. Publicly Released: Oct 10, 2019.
Oct 2, 2019
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Defense Workforce:
Steps Needed to Identify Acquisition Training Needs for Non-Acquisition Personnel [Reissued with revisions on Oct. 2, 2019.]GAO-19-556: Published: Sep 5, 2019. Publicly Released: Sep 5, 2019.
Sep 25, 2019
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Federal Workforce:
Talent Management Strategies to Help Agencies Better Compete in a Tight Labor MarketGAO-19-723T: Published: Sep 25, 2019. Publicly Released: Sep 25, 2019.
Sep 11, 2019
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USAID Reform:
Efforts Address Most Key Practices but Could Improve in Performance Assessment and Strategic Workforce PlanningGAO-19-609: Published: Sep 11, 2019. Publicly Released: Sep 11, 2019.
Aug 15, 2019
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Defense Acquisition Workforce:
DOD Increased Use of Human Capital Flexibilities but Could Improve MonitoringGAO-19-509: Published: Aug 15, 2019. Publicly Released: Aug 15, 2019.
Jul 30, 2019
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Human Capital:
Improving Federal Recruiting and Hiring EffortsGAO-19-696T: Published: Jul 30, 2019. Publicly Released: Jul 30, 2019.
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