Employees in nearly every federal agency reported lower job satisfaction in 2021 compared with 2020, according to the Partnership for Public Service’s Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings.
The Partnership for Public Service’s Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings is a comprehensive rating of employee engagement and satisfaction across 17 large agencies, 25 midsize agencies, 29 small agencies, and 432 subcomponents. The data came from a survey of 292,520 federal workers, and the survey had a response rate of 34%.
Among 17 large agencies, employees in every agency except the Department of Veterans Affairs reported lower job satisfaction.
In 2021, federal workers were broadly less satisfied and less engaged with their work under the avowedly pro-employee Biden administration than they were in their final year under President Donald Trump, according to a study released Wednesday. https://t.co/2o10gGM1Hk
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 13, 2022
Of employees for the 24 mid-size agencies listed, workers in 13 reported lower job satisfaction in 2021 compared with the year before. Job satisfaction among employees of small agencies lowered in 17 of the 29 listed. Job satisfaction for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission held steady at 67.9% for both 2020 and 2021. There was no data posted for 2020 for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.
In 2020, Biden promised that if elected to the presidency, he would support federal employee workers unions. (RELATED: Fed Workers Make Nearly Double Private Sector Employees, Still Demand Pay Hike)
“I will restore federal employees’ rights to organize and bargain collectively, restore their right to official time, and direct agencies to bargain with federal employee unions,” he said in American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) questionnaire.
The Biden Administration also revoked a Trump-era policy that restricted bargaining and appeal rights for federal employees.