Buzz Factor

These were the most-read stories on FCW.com in the past two weeks.

: As part of an effort to reduce the national debt, a federal commission has recommended a freeze on federal pay and benefit increases and a 10 percent reduction in the number of federal employees.: With Republicans in charge of the House, calls for spending cuts are going to increase. Your paycheck could be at risk. : Federal organizations with successful telework programs share some of their secrets.: With winter on its way, smart agencies are preparing for office closures by beefing up their telework plans.: The president of the National Treasury Employees Union lashes out at what she believes is an unfair portrayal of overpaid feds.: Remember those Republicans we mentioned? Some of them are planning to oppose your pay raise on the grounds that you're overpaid as it is.: A General Services Administration employee apparently sent a file that contained personally identifiable information, including Social Security numbers, for all GSA employees to someone outside the agency.: Although it does not appear that the information has been misused, the agency is offering a year of free identity theft insurance. Another near miss. Here's hoping luck holds. : An analysis shows that the gap between federal and private-sector pay is widening. : The growth in the gap is more than the planned raise, if you get one, so look for the chasm to get even wider.: We profile agencies that took chances with social media and show how their experiments turned out. : The future of Gov 2.0 belongs to those who are willing to take risks and learn from them. : After getting no help via the protest process, Google has sued to be allowed to compete for a contract written to exclude everyone but Microsoft. : If cloud computing is considered common enough that agencies have favorites to play, it's a sign that the concept has gone mainstream. : Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson retired as Army CIO, leaving questions about who will fill his shoes.: Those are big shoes, but there are some big-footed contenders.