OPM called the results “encouraging” and said they compare well with results of polls of the overall U.S. workforce. Image: Tanoy1412/Shutterstock.com
Overall scores of employee engagement and satisfaction with their work increased slightly in this year’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, with an engagement index at 72 percent positive and a satisfaction index at 64 percent positive.
Of the measures OPM generates from the survey results, the engagement and satisfaction indexes, each measuring responses to several questions within several general groupings, are the longest-running and the most closely watched.
The engagement score reflects views on leadership, supervisors and motivation and competency in the workplace; each were up by 1 or 2 points to 61, 80 and 74 percent, respectively. The overall score of 72 matched that of 2020, after slipping to 71 in 2021 and 2022; it had been 68 in both 2018 and 2019.
The “global satisfaction” index reflects responses to questions related to job satisfaction, satisfaction with the organization, willingness to recommend the agency to others as a place to work, and satisfaction with pay. The first three were 68, 62 and 67 percent positive, each up by 2 points. However, satisfaction with pay was just 57 percent positive, up 1 point but still below that of any other year back to 2018.
The overall satisfaction score of 64 was up by 2 points over 2022, matching the 2021 score; in 2018-2020, it had been 64, 65 and 69.
A “performance confidence” index measure of views of the individual work unit remained 84—matching the two prior years but three points below the level of the initial year, 2020—while a measure of views of agency DEIA programs rose to 71, two points above the level of the initial measure in last year’s survey.
OPM called the results “encouraging” and said they compare well with results of polls of the overall U.S. workforce, which it said show declines in employee engagement in each of the last three years. However, it has not yet released its annual analysis of the government-wide figures, nor the agency-specific figures.
Agency-by-agency results from the FEVS are a main part of the annual Best Places to Work in Government rankings from the Partnership for Public Service. Agencies near the top of those rankings typically tout their results in recruiting and other public outreach, while those scoring near the bottom commonly find themselves under greater scrutiny from Capitol Hill.
Large Share of Federal Workforce about to Experience a Payless Pay Period
OPM Details Coverage Changes, Plan Dropouts for FEHB/PSHB in 2026
OMB Says Federal Workforce RIFs are Starting as Shutdown Drags On
Financial Impact of Shutdown Starts to Hit Home; WH Threatens No Back Pay
Surge of Retirement Applications Is in the Pipeline, Says OPM
See also,
TSP Takes Step toward Upcoming In-Plan Roth Conversions
5 Steps to Protect Your Federal Job During the Shutdown
Over 30K TSP Accounts Have Crossed the Million Mark in 2025
The Best Ages for Federal Employees to Retire