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Right, but this is still the problem. Even GS-15 L10 is barely competitive with starting new-grad salaries at FAANG, and USDS is trying to pull experienced people.

USDS has the whole short-term tour/prestige going for it, though, so they can plausibly get people to take a temporary pay cut as an act of public service.

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I totally agree with you. The first wave of USDS hires were highly motivated to refactor/repair/replace the ACA infrastructure. Most came from much higher paying jobs in Silicon Valley. I doubt the same levels of motivation and excitement are still there, but I could be wrong. There was also a lot of political will and pressure that made those early USDS tasks remotely possible. Without that pressure, I imagine the vendors and the bureaucracy, which was barely tolerable a decade ago, would not be tolerated by most highly qualified candidates.

Many people in that first wave of USDSers are back in government, some with USDS, some at other agencies.

I think there's some of "this is shiny and new and putting the plane together as it flies" excitement that's different now (from what I saw in 2015 when with 18F), but USDS is better positioned thanks to long-developed trust to get more things done, IMO.

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