What 2025 Federal Reforms Did to Worker Engagement
Who's filling out these employee "pulse" surveys?
The agency I currently work at is really pushing the workplace satisfaction and employee pulse surveys. With all the reminder emails they send out, I have to wonder is anyone actually filling these out?
The administration has made it pretty damn clear by now that they give two shits about how we all are and whether or not we are satisfied with our work environment...so why even ask at this point??
Is it because they get off on knowing how miserable everyone is or are the only people filling out these things loyalists who will sing their praises for how awesome of a job they're doing pummeling through taxpayer dollars to reverse any progress made in creating a nontoxic work environment?
Legislative action has already been taken to make better use of federal space which would allow employees to benefit from telework but this administration has crushed those intentions hard.
One is the USE IT Act of 2023 which requires federal government to collect data on occupancy of buildings and for those properties not meeting the 60% occupancy threshold would need to reduce their footprint. RTO reverses all the money already spent on downsizing office space to now expand office spaces for agencies due to the destruction of telework.
Another is the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 which was intended to turn federal buildings being underutilized into affordable housing for the homeless and other Americans in need. RTO makes this intention even tougher.
Ways to repurpose these buildings exist and legislation is already in place to try to achieve this but that's not what the elite want. They want to be able to keep their effortless paychecks coming in all while making the peons more miserable and them more rich.
This administration could care less about hearing what the people really want or how they want to work, in fact it is their goal to traumatize the federal workforce, so why the hell are they trying to make it seem like they actually want to hear what their workforce thinks right now? They will either do nothing with honest responses from employees or use it against them.
You want my opinion??
Let's see... just this past year you:
Obliterated telework; a method of working that has proven to be mutually beneficial for both employee and employers. Data shows employees are both happier and more productive. A win for employers.
Made it nearly impossible for anyone to get a good performance rating with a meaningful reward even though the people left have taken on 60% more workload in a very toxic work environment due to DOGE chainsawing.
Impulsively fired hundreds of people then turned around months later to ask them to come back.
Began looking for people to fill positions that were occupied by qualified, experienced people with inexperienced people who will need to be trained due to the DOGE actions that saved no money.
Took away potential for internal employees to receive promotions by demoting backfill positions.
Ensured that little to no pay increases would occur for all employees.
Incurred more expenses for employees due to additional costs associated with RTO such as gas, parking, train, extending childcare hours, lunches, etc.
Following orders from people like appointee Vought who said about the federal workforce: "When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains. We want to put them in trauma."
Here's my anonymous response for y'all:
FUCK OFF!