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By Chloe Mayer
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Federal employees working for the Social Security Administration are the most miserable at work, a survey of staff at large government agencies has revealed.
The annual poll was conducted to find the best place to work in the government, with 2023's results published on Monday.
Each year, federal employees are quizzed about how they feel about their jobs, whether they are satisfied professionally, and whether they would recommend their organization as a good place to work. The survey is conducted by the Partnership for Public Service in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group, and the data is then used to calculate which departments are the best government workplaces.
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The Partnership for Public Service is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that is "building a better government and a stronger democracy," the group says on its website, adding: "By analyzing Best Places to Work in the Federal Government data, we offer sound analysis and recommendations on the workplace challenges facing federal agencies."
Coming out top of the list of 17 large federal agencies was the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with happy employees helping award the organization a score of 82.5. Job satisfaction has dipped slightly since the year before (2022 saw a score of 84.3), but it comfortably retains its top place by some distance.
It's the 12th year running that the space agency has been awarded the top spot, and administrator Bill Nelson praised his staff, saying that "with the world's finest workforce, we can reach the stars."
The Department of Health and Human Services came second, with a score of 75.2, while the Intelligence Community took third place with 72.6.
Languishing at the bottom of the list was the Social Security Administration (SSA), with a score of just 52.1. That's even worse than last year, when it received 53.9 and was also in bottom place.
Newsweek has reached out to the agency by email seeking comment.
The news will no doubt come as a blow to the SSA, which saw new commissioner Martin O'Malley admit last month that the agency was gripped by "a customer service crisis right now."
In terms of midsize federal agencies, the Government Accountability Office took top spot as the best place to work, with a score of 87.2, while the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency came last in 26th place with 57.7.
The list for small federal agencies saw the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) in first place with 93.6 (the overall winner across all government departments), and the Export-Import Bank of the United States in 30th place, with a score of just 40.6.
NIGC Acting Chair Sharon M. Avery was thrilled with her agency's results and said: "We are so proud and excited to be recognized in this way! [...] We plan to continue to foster a collaborative environment, where everyone feels valued and motivated to continue to support the tribal gaming operations that benefit our Native communities."
This year, the average score across federal agencies was 65.7, which was a 2.3 increase over the 2022 rankings.
"The gains in federal employee engagement are promising and indicate that an intentional focus on the management of the workforce can make a difference," said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service. "A highly motivated, engaged and expert career federal workforce, a cornerstone of American democracy, is critical to a well-functioning government and the success of our country."
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