Private contractors cost MORE

A study by the Project on Government Oversight found that using private contractors costs the federal government more than doing the work with government workers.

From The New York Times:

Despite a widespread belief that contracting out services to the private sector saves the federal government money, a new study suggests just the opposite — that the government actually pays more when it farms out work.

The study found that in 33 of 35 occupations, the government actually paid billions of dollars more to hire contractors than it would have cost government employees to perform comparable services. On average, the study found that contractors charged the federal government more than twice the amount it pays federal workers. ...

For example, the study found that, on average, the federal government paid contractors $268,653 per year for computer engineering services, while government workers in the same occupation made $136,456.

For human resources management, the federal government paid contractors an annual rate of $228,488, more than twice the $111,711 to have the same services done in-house.

The Office of Personnel Management, which administers the federal work force, did not respond to questions about the study, but in the past it has criticized reports that say federal workers are overpaid.

Of course, none of this will make any difference. Republicans have got their narrative, that government workers are grossly overpaid and that private industry can always do everything better than the government, and the truth of that narrative isn't a concern at all, only its political effectiveness.

And with constant repetition, most of the rest of the country will believe it, too. Evidence just won't put a dent in that, not even close.