Wisconsin has fewer public employees, working for less pay, than in most states according to the Wisconsin Budget Project.
Wisconsin spent 7.6 percent less than the national average on public payrolls in the last fiscal year and is ranked 36th among the 50 states for the number of public employees per population.
This comes after Gov. Scott Walker approved a $3 billion contract to attract Taiwanese technology company, Foxconn with the hopes of creating more jobs in the private sector. Gov. Scott Walker has made it a priority to attract private business to Wisconsin.
Most public employees in the state of Wisconsin work in education, health and human services, transportation and police and fire departments. Six out of 10 public employees work in education.
“Only 14 other states had a smaller percentage of public sector employees than Wisconsin,” said Wisconsin Budget Project analyst Tamarine Cornelius in a recent press release. “We need to make sure we have enough public employees to have the kind of efficient, effective public sector that can improve the state’s economic competitiveness and the quality of life for Wisconsin families.”
Average pay for Wisconsin public sector employees is 4 percent lower than the national average. But Wisconsin still ranks in the top 20 states for public employee pay. Still, Cornelius said she feels the states public sector is underserved.
“Public employees in Wisconsin teach our children, repair our transportation network, and keep our communities safe—all activities that help make Wisconsin a good place to do business and raise families,” Cornelius said. “But we can’t continue to undernourish the public sector without doing serious harm to our economy and to our social well-being.”
