November 3, 2000
MEMORANDUM FOR HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTORS |
FROM: |
JANICE R. LACHANCE
DIRECTOR |
SUBJECT: |
Higher Pay for Information Technology Workers |
I am pleased to inform you that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has
established higher rates of basic pay for entry- and developmental-level
computer specialists, computer engineers, and computer scientists covered by the
General Schedule (GS) pay system throughout the Federal Government.
The purpose of these higher rates of pay is to help agencies address significant
problems in recruiting information technology (IT) workers in today's highly
competitive IT labor market. The new higher rates of pay will become effective
in January 2001 and will apply to about 33,000 current Federal employees. The
combined effect of these new higher pay rates and the anticipated across-the-board
GS pay increase will produce overall net pay increases ranging from about 7
to 33 percent for most affected employees, depending on grade level. You will
find more detailed information about OPM's approval of higher pay rates for
IT workers in a separate memorandum for agency human
resources directors.
OPM recognized the need for additional compensation flexibility to help
agencies address recruitment and retention problems affecting the Government's
IT workforce. In May, we initiated a review of this issue by asking agency
personnel directors to provide staffing data and other related information to
help us determine the feasibility of establishing "special salary
rates" for IT workers. We also consulted with the Chief Information
Officers Council, which agreed on the need for the study and assisted in
compiling agency staffing reports. Please extend my sincere thanks to your human
resources and IT officials for their assistance in supporting this important
Governmentwide initiative.
The action taken today will go a long way toward ensuring that Federal
departments and agencies will be able to attract high quality IT workers.
However, this is only one part of our overall strategy for attracting and
retaining these workers. I encourage agencies to use other incentives, such as
recruitment bonuses and retention allowances, to attract high-tech workers into
the Federal service and to retain current employees who have critical IT skills.
Together, I am confident that we can continue to build an exceptional workforce
that will have an immediate and lasting impact on the business of government.
Last Modified: 4:06:06 PM on Thursday, September 04, 2003
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