Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey

How do government employees feel about their agencies, co-workers, and leaders?

>>> Latest Reports (scroll down): US Office of Special Counsel (2018) /// US Marshals Service (Dept of Justice) /// FBI (Dept of Justice) /// Office of the Director of National Intelligence / intelligence community /// Office of Government Ethics /// Internal Revenue Service (Dept of Treasury) /// Drug Enforcement Admin (Dept of Justice) /// Department of Energy

Each year, almost every agency in the federal government takes part in an employee survey. In 2017, more than 485,000 employees participated – from the Pentagon and the EPA and the FCC to the Justice Department and the National Archives and the TSA.

Overseen by the Office of Personnel Management (itself a federal agency), the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) contains 84 items. Most are statements that the respondents agree or disagree with on a five-point scale; a small number of items are questions. Some examples:

• “My organization’s senior leaders maintain high standards of honesty and integrity.”

• “My workload is reasonable.”

• “I can disclose a suspected violation of any law, rule or regulation without fear of reprisal.”

• “Arbitrary action, personal favoritism and coercion for partisan political purposes are not tolerated.”

• “Promotions in my work unit are based on merit.”

• “I feel encouraged to come up with new and better ways of doing things.”

• “My supervisor treats me with respect.”

• “How satisfied are you with the training you receive for your present job?”

The OPM then creates multiple reports for each agency, as well as every subagency, office, and division within agencies (as long as that component contains at least 10 employees). This results in thousands of reports each year. Hardly any have ever make their way to the public. This is a shame, since this massive, taxpayer-funded survey gives us an otherwise unobtainable look inside the US government. We get a sense of the people who make up the black-box Cabinet departments, law-enforcement and investigative agencies, regulatory agencies, and so on. Who wouldn’t want a glimpse at the day-to-day realities of the DEA, ICE, IRS, NASA, and the Attorney General’s Office, to name just a few?

I’ve filed FOIA requests with every participating agency – as well as 100+ subagencies and other components – to get their most important and revealing reports from the 2017 survey (plus some from earlier years). They’ll be posted here as they come in, along with similar surveys conducted by the few agencies that don’t participate in FEVS (such as the FBI and the intelligence community).

Keep checking this page – this is only the beginning….

An example snippet from the FCC’s main report (“Agency Management Report”):

Department of Agriculture (USDA)

2017: Agency Management Report /// Annual Employee Survey Report [Excel file] /// 16 Demographic Reports /// Subagency Comparison Report

Department of Commerce

Office of Inspector General

2017 main report

National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) / Undersecretary for Nuclear Security

2017: Main report /// Subagency Comparison Report

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: 2017 main report

Los Alamos National Laboratory: 2017 main report

Nevada National Security Site: 2017 main report

Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

2017 main report

Office of Infectious Diseases and Office of Non-Communicable Diseases, Injury, & Environmental Health: 2017 main report

Office of Public Health Preparedness & Response: 2017 main report

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: 2017 main report

National Institute on Drug Abuse: 2017 main report

National Institute of Mental Health: 2017 main report /// 2017 Breakout Report

Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

2017: Agency Management Report /// Annual Employee Survey Report /// Subagency Comparison Report /// 16 Demographics Reports

Customs & Border Protection

2017: main report

Office of the Secretary

2017: main report /// Subagency Comparison Report

Executive Secretariat: 2017 main report

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

2017: All Items/Indices All Levels Report (a/k/a Survey Scores) [Excel file]

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

2017: main report & trend report

2016: Trends Report

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

2017: main report /// Subagency Comparison Report

The vast majority of these 170+ reports weren’t publicly available until now,
and hundreds more are coming.
Please support my efforts to dig up important documents: Donate

Department of the Interior (DOI)

2017: Work Environment Survey [non-FEVS]: Complete Set [101 MB]. PDF portfolio containing overview, statistical supplement, technical report, and individual supplements for each component, including Bureau of Land Management, Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Inspector General, etc. Individual files are available here. Interior Dept press release about the survey.

2016: Agency Trend Report

Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)

2013 main report /// 2014 main report /// 2015 main report /// 2016 main report

National Park Service (NPS)

2017 Work Environment Survey [non-FEVS]: Technical Report (main) /// Statistical Supplement