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Occasional Contributor
Posts: 12
Registered: ‎08-31-2010

Don't be concerned about being confused. This level of comprehension is most likely far outside your skills set.

I'll try and help you.

First, government jobs, like the private sector, are assigned pay levels. An administrative assistant (or secretary if you prefer) in the private sector may be paid less that a similarly employed person working for the government. Also, you need to factor in the cost of benefits that the two positions earn. Gov't benefits are generally worth more than private sector benefits.

Second, the government employed adm asst is most likely paid less than a Vice President working for a private sector bank. Again, you need to consider the actual job being done. But the thing to be aware of is that there are many more lower levels of gov't jobs than there are higher ones. The ratio of worker bees to queens must be taken into account.

However, there are no absolutes, and some gov't positions pay less than the comparable position in the private sector. Now, do you remember Press Secretary Tony Snow who left the B WH because of his pending death and went to work for F*x so that he could make as much money as possible before he died?

From F*x News

"He resigned from the White House six months later, in September 2007, citing not his health but a need to earn more than the $168,000 a year he was paid in the government post. He was replaced by his deputy, Dana Perino, B***'s current press secretary."

See?