FCW.com: “Amid leadership ineffectiveness and turnover plus a strained relationship with labor unions, the federal government generally looks like a less enjoyable place to work than it did a year ago. That’s according to the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government ranking, jointly produced by Partnership for Public Service and Boston Consulting Group and derived from the Office of Personnel Management’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey data. The overall 2018 governmentwide score clocked in at 62.2, a 0.6-point drop from the score the Partnership gave last year. By comparison, the 2018 private sector engagement score is 77.1. Further, this year, employee happiness at the majority of agencies declined, reversing a three-year trend in which most federal agencies improved over the previous year.

“This year’s rankings tell the tale of two governments,” said Partnership for Public Service President Max Stier. “One part of our government has agencies with committed leaders who are fostering high and improving levels of employee engagement. The other part of our government is handicapped by a lack of leadership that has led to static or declining employee engagement.”…For mid-size agencies, in addition to Education, the National Labor Relations Board took a huge tumble, as its score also dropped more than 12 points. The biggest drop, however, belonged to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which fell 25.2 points…”