Federal employees overwhelmingly are satisfied with their jobs and believe the work they do is important, but many believe the government still has work to do when it comes to providing training opportunities and rewarding top performers, according to survey results released Monday by the Office of Personnel Management.
The 2010 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey found that nearly 86 percent of federal workers like the kind of work they do, and more than 92 percent believe the work they do is important. Only 53.8 percent of federal workers said their training needs are assessed, however, and 65.9 percent said they are given a real opportunity to improve their skills.
While 65.8 percent of feds said they are satisfied with their pay, only 26.3 percent said that pay raises depend on how well employees perform their jobs. Only 36.2 percent said differences in performance are recognized in a meaningful way, and only 35.4 percent said promotions in their work unit are based on merit, according to the survey.
The survey includes responses from more than half of the 500,000 federal employees who received copies of the survey in February and March.
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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