The survey did find some bright spots in the government workforce. Study: Fed worker happiness drops

Job satisfaction among federal government workers dropped sharply in 2012, according to a new study out Thursday that ranked the best and worst places to work in the federal government.

A report from the Partnership for Public Service and Deloitte found that employee satisfaction among those who work for the federal government dropped, overall, by the largest margin since the survey first began in 2003. On a scale of 100, the overall satisfaction score among those surveyed for 2012 was 60.8, a 3.2 drop from the previous year.


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“Our nation’s public servants have sent a clear signal that all is not well,” said Max Stier, the Partnership for Public Service president and CEO, in a statement. “The two year pay freeze, budget cuts and ad hoc hiring freezes are taking their toll – and this is a red flag.”

But there are still some bright spots in the government workforce, according to the report from this nonprofit, nonpartisan group. Here’s a look at where to work — and what to skip — in Washington, based on categories including leadership, pay, work/life balance and how well employee skills match up with the mission at hand.

BEST PLACES TO WORK IN THE FEDERAL GOV’T:

Large agencies:

The intelligence community: This field earned the second-highest overall rank among best large agencies at which to work, but respondents said they found the best pay and work/life balance here.

NASA: Respondents named the National Aeronautics and Space Administration the best overall large agency at which to work, citing effective leadership, strategic management, teamwork and satisfaction with the match between employee skills and the mission of the agency.

Also earning high marks among large agencies: Department of State, Department of Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency.

Mid-sized agencies:

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: The FDIC outpaces other agencies in this category by every measure except work-life balance, where the organization came in second to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Other mid-sized agencies with high scores: the Government Accountability Office, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Smithsonian Institution.

Small agencies:

The Surface Transportation Board, the Congressional Budget Office, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and the Peace Corps all clocked in with similarly high overall scores.

WORST PLACES TO WORK IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT:

Large agencies:

The Department of Homeland Security had an overall score that was significantly lower than the next-lowest score, the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Mid-sized agencies:

The National Archives and Records Administration and the Broadcasting Board of Governors had overall scores about 36 points below the top-rated agencies.

Small agencies:

The Federal Maritime Commission and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative got slammed in the survey, with satisfaction rates at about half of what the best-ranked agencies in this category earned.

Rankings were determined by responses from about 700,000 federal workers, according to the Partnership for Public Service.

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