Given the coming shortage of skilled workers and skilled people to come in and staff jobs in the federal public service, I know the government likes to talk about being the employer of choice. Different parts of the core administration of the federal public service like to refer to themselves as the employer of choice. That said, oftentimes the compensation for those workers doesn't necessarily compare to the compensation of workers in the private sector.
Obviously one of the big benefits of working in the federal public sector is the benefit of the total compensation, which includes the defined benefit of the pension plan. Despite the fact that people have to invest a full career to see a full pension, I believe most workers who enter the federal public service do so for several reasons. One of them is knowing there's some level of security with respect to their overall compensation. That's critically important to most of us in planning our lives.