Private employers' average real cost of total compensation (comprising wages and benefits) for current workers grew by 12 percent between 1991 and 2005. The real costs of benefits grew by close to 18 percent, while real wages grew by 10 percent. Wages and benefits increased by about the same percentage for most of the period until 2002, after which time real wages began to stagnate and real benef

GAO noted that: (1) the contingent workforce comprises many categories of workers, ranging from highly paid management consultants who are satisfied with their work arrangements to low-paid service sector workers who receive no benefits and would rather have full-time, permanent jobs; (2) the size of the contingent workforce, however, cannot be precisely estimated because no consensus exists on w

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Labor's wage determination process under the Davis-Bacon Act, focusing on the number of counties that had: (1) construction projects receiving more than $2,000 in federal funds in fiscal year 1995; and (2) current wage determinations. GAO noted that in 1995: (1) 3,091 out of 3,100 counties had at least one construc

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed a report comparing federal civilian pay and private-sector pay. GAO noted that: (1) in contrast to a number of other studies, the report concludes that federal civilian employees receive about 51 percent more in salaries, wages, and benefits over their careers than do private-sector employees and that a 33.7 percent wage reduction is needed to bri

GAO discussed the impact of the President's economic plan on federal employees. GAO noted that: (1) the government needs to attract and retain employees of high caliber to meet the challenges facing the government; (2) it has identified the importance of federal pay reform to attract and retain quality employees; (3) the President's proposals represent a reversal of positive steps taken to addres

GAO noted that: (1) to attract and retain a high-quality work force, the government must sustain the initiatives begun in the last 4 years and respond to other emerging issues; (2) federal managers do not always have the flexibility, systems, or processes they need to downsize the federal work force effectively; and (3) issues facing the federal government include modernizing employment practices

GAO found that significant improvements in federal human resource management included: (1) the enactment of comprehensive pay reform legislation; (2) the designation of a single government agency with lead responsibility for federal employee drug testing; (3) increased OPM emphasis on employee performance management and training; (4) revised regulations regarding reductions in force; (5) the enac

GAO found that: (1) campus recruiting was the dominant recruiting method for officials, managers, and professional positions, and newspaper advertisements received the second highest rating; (2) the personal interview received the highest rating among factors companies used in deciding which applicants to hire, and at least half of the companies considered grade point average and work experience

GAO found that: (1) the number of nontraditional workers should continue to grow over the next several years due to employer and worker interest in such work arrangements; (2) nontraditional workers had fewer economic protections than did traditional full-time employees; (3) part-time workers earned less per hour than full-time workers in the same occupations and industries; (4) families headed b

GAO found that: (1) 72 percent of employed respondents were working for government contractors or grantees; (2) over half of the respondents employed by government contractors or grantees received higher pay after leaving DOE, and 60 percent of them reported that higher pay had a major effect on their decision to leave DOE; (3) although most employees peformed the same type of work, they had less