[dmhmr]

I disagree based on my decade+ experience working with Federal employees. I would guess that 50% of GS-13 to GS-15 (heck even SES) are mostly incompetent, 40% get the basic minimum of their job complete, and the final 10% shoulder most of the work accomplished. I have come across many GS staff given busy work roles so they are "out of the way" of leadership's objectives. :edit: For folks downvoting me, this is just my personal opinion based on my experience working within IT and cybersecurity. My observations can easily be (and may actually be) untrue elsewhere (as noted by replies to my comment). Early in my career, I was a GS-13 myself.

[alephnerd]

Depends on the agency and role.

You're in cybersecurity/IT which is sadly a massive shitshow in most agencies outside of the DoD and DoE.

All I can say is the grass ain't greener in similarly sized private sector organizations.

Edit: I actually upvoted you. That said, Cyber/IT is treated differently and the GS scheme is different.

Relatively junior Economists, Accountants, and Statisticians won't be given a GS-13 position out the door, but it's more likely for Cyber/IT roles due to the salary constraints.

[dmhmr]

I shouldn't have used such broad strokes, you accurately assessed that my opinion is based on my experience with IT/cyber folks in the government.