Federal Employees’ Job Satisfaction Takes Nose Dive in 2018
December 17, 2018
Categories:
The Insider
From the hiring freeze to the illegal executive orders targeting workplace rights, the Trump administration’s repeated attacks on federal employees and unions have taken their toll.
According to a new employee satisfaction survey, “employee engagement” declined at 59.1% of federal agencies.
A few notable findings:
- Two agencies that deal with the rights of federal employees took a hit in employee engagement. The Federal Labor Relations Authority, an independent agency tasked with mediating some labor-management disagreements, dropped 31 points as the agency closed two regional offices and still doesn’t have a general counsel, without which the agency can’t enforce its findings. The Merit Systems Protection Board, a quasi-judicial agency that considers appeals from federal employees who are the subject of adverse personnel actions, fell by 4.3 points.
- The Environmental Protection Agency’s score fell for the second year in a row, dropping 6 points to 57.5 in 2018. Employees gave the agency’s senior leaders low marks with a score of 38.1 out of 100 amid controversial pro-polluter policies and other attacks on its own workforce.
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, tasked with protecting the public from abusive practices by financial firms, saw its score drop by 25 points as the administration turned the agency’s mission on its head.
- The Education Department’s score dropped 12 points amid the agency’s attempt to unilaterally impose a contract that union members had overwhelmingly rejected.
“Mr. Trump’s war on the hardworking public servants that keep our country safe and running is felt at nearly every level of our civil service, from emboldened managers making it harder for our members to do their jobs, to his war on rights in the workplace,” said AFGE President J. David Cox Sr. “It takes a toll on the worker and on employee morale.”
The Department of Veterans Affairs, which repeatedly attacks its own workforce, did not participate in this year’s survey.
