“Designed to help a broad audience of government leaders, employees and job seekers, the 2014 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government® rankings include the views of more than 392,700 civil servants on a wide range of workplace topics. More than 389 federal organizations are ranked according to overall employee satisfaction and commitment, as well as on 10 additional workplace issues such as strategic management, teamwork, leadership and work–life balance…The 2014 Best Places to Work data show a decline in federal employee satisfaction with their jobs and workplaces for a fourth consecutive year. Government-wide, federal employee job satisfaction and commitment fell 0.9 points to a score of 56.9 out of 100. This represents the lowest overall Best Places to Work score since the rankings were first launched in 2003. In contrast, private-sector employee satisfaction improved by 1.3 points in 2014 for a score of 72, according to Hay Group. The steady drop in employee satisfaction from 2011 to 2014 may be the result of a number of factors. These include the 2013 across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration; three years of pay freezes; hiring slowdowns; numerous management missteps that garnered negative attention and criticism; and a partial government shutdown that resulted in the furlough of 850,000 employees. Among individual federal organizations, 55.8 percent saw their overall employee satisfaction and commitment ratings decrease in 2014, compared with 75.4 percent in 2013. Specifically, 44.4 percent of large agencies, 60.9 percent of mid-size agencies, 62.1 percent of small agencies and 55.3 percent of the subcomponents experienced a decline in employee satisfaction in 2014.”