As reported recently by Federal Times (Staff shortages fueling government worker burnout, survey says), a recent study offered some insight into the lack of engagement by federal government employees.

Of the survey respondents, more than 50 percent of federal government employees describe job burnout, which is much higher than in the private sector. Another discovery from the survey: 33 percent of survey respondents claim they are getting ready to leave their posts.

The disengagement is higher among lower-income government workers, women, and millennials.

Various causes of burnout appeared in the survey, including staffing shortages, the challenge of juggling personal and professional lives, a lack of communication and support from managers, workload, and time pressures. More than 66 percent of survey respondents claim that a four-day work week would alleviate stress.

Several focal “pain points” were included in the survey conclusions: 82% of workers at all levels of government dislike covering the workload for unfilled positions, 45% said it is a problem to help others learn their job, 35% said “training new hires,” and 23% said that recruiting is problematic.

However, survey respondents offered some solutions, including reducing administrative burdens, better health, and wellness benefits, offering more on-site amenities, providing workers the ability to relocate or work from multiple locations, decreasing workloads, and working from home more often.

An alarming conclusion was that more than one-third of the survey respondents plan to leave their job in the next 12 months.The 2022 survey by Eagle Hill Consulting included 1,003 respondents from a random sample of employees across the U.S., including 739 federal, state, and local government workers.To read the entire article from Federal Times