> benefits have not been touched…

If you don't count mass firings, sure.

I don’t really trust you on that. Why is the government workforce not more capable if there are lots of skilled people who want to work for them?

For poverty wages? In my city government workers with families almost universally qualify for subsidized housing. People in my experience get half my salary, and then half of that goes to housing. Maybe some C tier talent goes to government but not without wfh, pension or other benefits.

Federal IT workers are hardly working for poverty wages. In addition to their base salaries, they receive additional locality pay, generous benefits like paid time off, retirement benefits, inexpensive health insurance and life insurance, training and advancement opportunities, and the opportunity to receive monetary and time off awards. It’s not FAANG salaries, but they are very well compensated and the working conditions are usually great.

> very well compensated

You'd have to be a GS-14 [0] to be north of $150k base salary.

That's tech team manager / senior manager, with a post-graduate degree, and 7+ years of experience in the field.

[0] https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries...

> and the working conditions are usually great

Really? Because private sector seems a lot more stable these days.

> the benefits have not been touched and would take an act of Congress to change

There’s a lot of things that are supposed to take an act of Congress to change.