Federal Manager's Daily Report

Public Still Supportive of Federal Employees, Fear Impact of Cutbacks, Poll Finds

In a new poll done for the Partnership for Public Service, public support for federal employees remained about the same as last “despite criticism and disparagement from many politicians and public officials,” the Partnership has said.

The overall finding of 55 percent favorable vs. 35 percent unfavorable views was slightly higher and once again those numbers are above views of the government as a whole, it said. The latest poll, of 1,000 persons, also once again found a sharp difference by party affiliation, with Democrats 73 percent favorable vs. 20 percent unfavorable compared with 49 vs. 45 among Republicans. For independents, the figures were 48/38.

“Changes made to the federal government by the Trump administration” were opposed by 54 percent vs. supported by 42 percent, with an even sharper difference by party—87 percent of Democrats are opposed vs. the 79 percent of Republicans in favor, for example. Fifty-one percent said the government is operating worse than a year ago compared with 33 percent who said it is operating better; the rest said they couldn’t tell.

However, even among those who support the administration’s actions, 41 percent expressed concern about loss of experience and knowledge and 24 percent know someone who has been impacted by federal job cuts. Those figures are higher among those who oppose the cuts, at 85 and 36 percent.

Forty-six percent said the changes to the federal workforce will make their life worse vs. 38 percent who said it would be better, and 48 and 37 percent made that assessment regarding the impact on their community.

Of the third who said they already have felt a personal impact, issues included degraded customer service, cuts to research and grants in areas important to them, and cutbacks in programs due to loss of funding.

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See also,

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The Best Ages for Federal Employees to Retire

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Primer: Early out, buyout, reduction in force (RIF)

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