The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) Blog

Occupational Education #10: The Cost of Contractor Nurse Services

By BRYAN RAHIJA 

Looking for billions of dollars' worth of savings for taxpayers? Look no further than government service contracting. Last September, POGO released a report that found service contractors cost taxpayers nearly twice as much as federal employees who do the same work. With the final discussion of the mammoth defense budget bill looming in Congress and with the nation’s deficit crisis largely unresolved, we figured there’s no better time to take another look at data from the report.

Our report examined 35 different occupations. Over last few days, we’ve offered a fresh look at ten of those occupations. Today marks our last installment of this series. Our last occupation is nurse. Let's check out the numbers!

Our report found that the average contractor annual billing rate for nursing services was $174,803, around $70,000 more than the average full annual compensation ($105,714 which includes benefits) of a federal employee doing the same work. There’s an even larger discrepancy between this billing rate and the full annual compensation of a nurse working in the private sector—a figure our report puts at $91,042.

Occupational Education #9: The Cost of Contractor Security Guard Services

By BRYAN RAHIJA

Looking for billions of dollars' worth of savings for taxpayers? Look no further than government service contracting. Last September, POGO released a report that found service contractors cost taxpayers nearly twice as much as federal employees who do the same work. With the final discussion of the mammoth defense budget bill looming in Congress and with the nation's deficit crisis largely unresolved, we figured there’s no better time than now to take another look at data from the report.

Our report examined 35 different occupations. This series offers a fresh look at ten of those occupations. Today’s occupation is security guard. Let's check out the numbers!

By now, most Americans have probably heard about the private security contractors that continue to play a significant role in U.S. activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. This post isn’t about the costs of those security guards—which can present an array of challenges to government officials beyond cost—but rather domestic security guards. Our report offers some examples of how government agencies are increasingly turning to contractors to provide these personnel:

Occupational Education #8: The Cost of Contractor Language Specialist Services

By BRYAN RAHIJA

Looking for billions of dollars' worth of savings for taxpayers? Look no further than government service contracting. Last September, POGO released a report that found service contractors cost taxpayers nearly twice as much as federal employees who do the same work. With the final discussion of the mammoth defense budget bill looming in Congress and with the nation’s deficit crisis largely unresolved, we figured there’s no better time to take another look at data from the report.

Our report examined 35 different occupations. This series offers a fresh look at ten of those occupations. Today’s occupation is language specialist. Let's check out the numbers!

Like many of the other services we analyzed in our report, language specialist services fall into the category of “commercial” services—i.e., the sort of services that you can find listed in a phone book. Language specialists also highlight the trend of outsourcing activities closely related to national security, as many of them have intelligence-related roles.

Occupational Education #7: The Cost of Contractor General Attorney Services

By BRYAN RAHIJA

Looking for billions of dollars' worth of savings for taxpayers? Look no further than government service contracting. Last September, POGO released a report that found service contractors cost taxpayers nearly twice as much as federal employees who do the same work. With the final discussion of the mammoth defense budget bill looming in Congress and with the nation’s deficit crisis largely unresolved, we figured there’s no better time to take another look at data from the report.

Our report examined 35 different occupations. This series offers a fresh look at ten of those occupations. Today’s occupation is general attorney. Let's check out the numbers!

Our report found that the annual contractor billing rate for a general attorney was $554,923—far and away the highest billing rate for any of the 35 occupations we examined. That billing rate is more than three times the annual full compensation of a federal employee doing the same work—who we found earns $175,081 including benefits. These attorneys often perform work involving resolution, management, or disposition of assets held by the federal government.

Occupational Education #6: The Cost of Contractor Computer Engineering Services

By BRYAN RAHIJA

Looking for billions of dollars' worth of savings for taxpayers? Look no further than government service contracting. Last September, POGO released a report that found service contractors cost taxpayers nearly twice as much as federal employees who do the same work. With the final discussion of the mammoth defense budget bill looming in Congress and with the nation’s deficit crisis largely unresolved, we figured there's no better time to take another look at data from the report.

Our report examined 35 different occupations. This series offers a fresh look at ten of those occupations. Today’s occupation is computer engineering. Let's check out the numbers!

As we wrote in our report, “Information technology work is widely outsourced throughout the federal government because of the assumption that IT companies provide vastly superior skills and cost savings.” Computer engineering represents a subset of this work, and unfortunately for taxpayers, the anticipated cost savings for those services aren’t exactly coming to fruition.

Occupational Education #5: The Cost of Contractor Cemetery Administration Services

By BRYAN RAHIJA

Looking for billions of dollars' worth of savings for taxpayers? Look no further than government service contracting. Last September, POGO released a report that found service contractors cost taxpayers nearly twice as much as federal employees who do the same work. With the final discussion of the mammoth defense budget bill looming in Congress and with the nation’s deficit crisis largely unresolved, we figured there’s no better time to take another look at data from the report.

Our report examined 35 different occupations. Over the next few days, we’ll offer a fresh look at ten of those occupations. Today’s occupation is cemetery administration services. Let's check out the numbers!

Our report puts cemetery administration services near the top of the list of most expensive services to contract out to the private sector. We found that the annual contractor billing rate for cemetery administration services is $299,832—about triple the amount of the annual compensation (including benefits!) of a federal employee performing these services.

Occupational Education #4: The Cost of Contractor Claims Assistance and Examining Services

By BRYAN RAHIJA

Looking for billions of dollars' worth of savings for taxpayers? Look no further than government service contracting. Last September, POGO released a report that found service contractors cost taxpayers nearly twice as much as federal employees who do the same work. With the final discussion of the mammoth defense budget bill looming in Congress and with the nation’s deficit crisis largely unresolved, we figured there’s no better time to take another look at data from the report.

Our report examined 35 different occupations. Over the next few days, we’ll offer a fresh look at ten of those occupations. Today’s occupation is claims assistance and examining. Let's check out the numbers!

Lawmakers or executive branch budgeteers looking to find savings in service contracting might want to start by looking at this profession. Of all the occupations we analyzed in our report, claims assistance and examining—which involves examining workers' comp claims and other legal / entitlement claims—had the highest ratio of contractor billing rate to full federal employee compensation. The annual contractor billing rate for this service comes in at $276,598—nearly five times the full compensation of a federal employee performing the same work ($57,292 including benefits).

Occupational Education #3: The Cost of Contractor Budget Analysis Services

By BRYAN RAHIJA

Looking for billions of dollars' worth of savings for taxpayers? Look no further than government service contracting. Last September, POGO released a report that found service contractors cost taxpayers nearly twice as much as federal employees who do the same work. With the final discussion of the mammoth defense budget bill looming in Congress and with the nation’s deficit crisis largely unresolved, we figured there’s no better time to take another look at data from the report.

Our report examined 35 different occupations. Over the next few days, we’ll offer a fresh look at ten of those occupations. Today’s occupation is budget analysis. Let's check out the numbers!

Our report found that the annual contractor billing rate for budget analysis is a whopping $302,661—nearly three times the $110,229 in full annual compensation (salary AND benefits) that it costs for a federal employee to do the same work. To put it another way, federal employees perform budget analysis at roughly a 64 percent discount for taxpayers. This sort of service was among the most expensive examined in our report.

Occupational Education #2: The Cost of Contractor Mechanical Engineering Services

By BRYAN RAHIJA

Looking for billions of dollars' worth of savings for taxpayers? Look no further than government service contracting. Last September, POGO released a report that found service contractors cost taxpayers nearly twice as much as federal employees who do the same work. With the final discussion of the mammoth defense budget bill looming in Congress and with the nation’s deficit crisis largely unresolved, we figured there’s no better time to take another look at data from the report.

Our report examined 35 different occupations. Over the next few days, we’ll offer a fresh look at ten of those occupations. Today’s occupation is mechanical engineering. Let's check out the numbers!

Our report found that the annual contractor billing rate for mechanical engineering services is $189,197. How much would it cost to have a federal employee perform that work in house? According to our report, a federal employee’s annual compensation (including benefits!) for that kind of work is $126,177. That means a federal employee costs taxpayers just two-thirds the price of a contractor for comparable mechanical engineering services.

Occupational Education #1: The Cost of Contractor Accounting Services

By BRYAN RAHIJA

Looking for billions of dollars' worth of savings for taxpayers? Look no further than government service contracting. Last September, POGO released a report that found service contractors cost taxpayers nearly twice as much as federal employees who do the same work. With the final discussion of the mammoth defense budget bill looming in Congress and with the nation’s deficit crisis largely unresolved, we figured there’s no better time to take another look at data from the report.

Our report examined 35 different occupations. Over the next few days, we’ll offer a fresh look at ten of those occupations. Today’s occupation is accounting. Let's check out the numbers!

According to our report, accounting is one of the most expensive services to contract out to the private sector. The annual contractor billing rate for such services is $299,374, compared to a federal employee’s annual compensation (including benefits!) of $124,851 for comparable work. To put it another way, a federal employee costs taxpayers just four-tenths the cost of a contractor for accounting services.