The budget cuts known as sequestration were supposed to wreak havoc, forcing the shrinking of critical workforces including airport security officers and food inspectors. But since sequestration kicked in March 4, the government has posted openings for 4,300 federal job titles to hire some 10,300 people. The median position has a salary topping out at $76,000, and one-fourth of positions pay $113,000 or more, according to an analysis by The Washington Times of federal job listings. Altogether, the jobs will pay up to $792 million per year. Including job postings that have been open since before sequestration, the government is in the market for 27,000 employees who will make up to $1.8 billion a year. The jobs posted since sequestration include 10,195 positions at the Department of Agriculture, 2,800 at the Department of Veterans Affairs and 1,611 the Department of Health and Human Services. They include jobs to provide services to military personnel on bases around the world, including 71 bartenders and 123 waiters. Nearly 200 positions related to Army-run bowling alleys are also open. One position in Hawaii pays up to $110,000 â plus a 12 percent cost-of-living adjustment â to oversee such recreation facilities. Most of those jobs are funded through fees paid to those facilities and donât get taxpayer money, but that explanation doesnât wash with some watchdogs and lawmakers. Some lawmakers and watchdogs say all the money is fungible and should be factored into sequestration decisions. At the Transportation Security Administration, which said sequestration would result in widespread flight delays, 436 positions, almost all for security officers, have been posted since March 4. TSA also is hiring for quality assurance, logistics management, information technology and program analyst roles. Each of these jobs can pay more than $137,000 a year. An email from one federal agency indicated that it was intentionally placing the brunt of the cuts on critical and high-profile positions instead of low-priority jobs to lend credence to the dire warnings it had proffered to Congress in a plea for more funding. âWe have gone on record with a notification to Congress and whoever else that â[the Agriculture Departmentâs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service] would eliminate assistance to producers in 24 states in managing wildlife damage to the aquaculture industry, unless they provide funding to cover the costs.â So it is our opinion that however you manage that reduction, you need to make sure you are not contradicting what we said the impact would be,â leaders said. The Agriculture Departmentâs Forest Service is hiring numerous people at nearly 800 locations, but could not specify how many it would hire in all.... More http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/27/in-time-of-sequesters-federal-government-posts-270/