Recruiting and Retention Not a Concern

Bush’s order also, as required by law, contains an assessment of the potential impact of limiting the raise on recruiting and retention. It says: “I do not believe this decision will materially affect our ability to continue to attract and retain a quality federal workforce. To the contrary, since any pay raise above what I have proposed would likely be unfunded, agencies would have to absorb the additional cost and could have to freeze hiring in order to pay the higher rates. Moreover, GS ‘quit’ rates continue to be very low (2.0 percent on an annual basis), well below the overall average ‘quit’ rate in private enterprise. Should the need arise, the government has many compensation tools, such as recruitment bonuses, retention allowances, and special salary rates, to maintain the high quality workforce that serves our nation so very well.”