InterQuest 2011 – Part II; Private Sector Talent Transforming Government In-plants
This sixth annual InterQuest continued the theme of most all printing conferences for the last decade: digital printing and electronic workflows must be in your future. This DC gathering featured successful case studies by the general managers that led their transition. In many cases it was out of the doldrums of obsolete and antiquated equipment to include a more enlightened management style of involving the entire staff in helping design the new workflows using proven automated softwares. An underlying theme is the success of professionals who have been hired from the slumping private sector. Skills that have been honed over the past decade or more are now coming into their own with Government in-plants.
USA Today published two of their compensation studies comparing public with private sector. The most recent was published in early 2011. At every position the public sector is a full 100% higher than the private sector, i.e., double the private sector package. The result is that Federal Government in-plants are able to hire talent out of the private sector printing industry with extremely attractive compensation packages.
It is ironic that the private sector employees may move to the public sector for much less money because there are jobs available in the public sector and the working hours are typically less than being demanded of key employees in the private sector.
Public sector wages have been frozen for the past two years. This would have to continue for a couple of decades for parity to be restored versus the private sector. And that, of course, is not expected to happen.
