Two out of every three federal workers say they would never sign up for a government job again.
Quick Take
- A new poll from the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association found nearly two-thirds of federal workers would not choose public service again.
- Workers blame shrinking job security and shakier benefits, not regret over their original career choice.
- The finding lands after the Trump administration’s Schedule Policy/Career order stripped civil service protections from thousands of workers.
- Older data still shows federal benefits beat many private-sector packages, showing the fight is over trust, not just dollars.
A Stark Number From The Nation’s Largest Employer
The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association surveyed active and retired government workers this summer. The result was blunt.
Nearly two-thirds said they would not enter public service again if they had the choice today. Respondents pointed to eroding job security and shrinking benefits as the reason, not disappointment with the work itself.
That distinction matters. Workers are not saying government work lacks meaning. They are saying the deal has changed. For decades, federal employment traded lower pay for rock-solid stability and generous retirement plans. That trade is now the whole debate.
Nearly two-thirds of U.S. federal workers said they wouldn't enter public service again, citing eroding job security and benefits, according to a recent poll of active and retired government employees.
https://t.co/9iNojl3MHI— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 3, 2026
Civil Service Protections Have Actually Shifted
This is not just a vibe. In June, the Trump administration rolled out Schedule Policy/Career, an executive order reclassifying certain federal positions.
Roughly 8,000 workers were formally notified that their civil service protections had been revoked, according to Federal News Network. Losing that protection means losing the legal shield that made firing a career employee slow and difficult.
Separately, tracking from the Federal Harms Tracker found more than 214,000 civil servants had already left government jobs by mid-June, through a mix of voluntary buyouts and involuntary cuts.
Numbers like that turn abstract anxiety into a real, visible exodus that current employees watch happen to their coworkers.
Morale Data Backs Up The Sour Mood
The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association poll is not an outlier. A separate survey of 11,000 federal workers found governmentwide engagement sitting at just 32 out of 100, with 58 percent saying their engagement had gotten worse since 2024.
Gallup-based reporting found the share of federal employees classified as “thriving” dropped ten points between 2024 and 2025. Multiple measures are pointing the same direction at once.
The Other Side Of The Ledger
Not every data point supports a doom narrative. The Congressional Budget Office found that in 2022, federal benefits still cost more and delivered more value than private-sector benefits for workers at most education levels.
Pension plans, paid leave, and health coverage remain genuinely strong on paper. That is worth remembering before assuming the whole system has collapsed overnight.
Older survey work backs this up further. A Brookings Institution poll found roughly two-thirds of federal employees originally took their jobs specifically for security, pay, and benefits, not idealism.
That means the current anger is not about federal jobs being bad jobs. It is about federal workers feeling the specific promise they signed up for is being rewritten mid-career, without their input.
Why This Matters Beyond Washington
A demoralized federal workforce is not just an internal Washington story. These are the people processing Social Security checks, staffing veterans’ hospitals, and inspecting food safety. Even one advocacy group has acknowledged not every survey tells the same story.
Some polling has found only 7 percent of workers said they were less interested in public service after recent upheaval, a reminder that sentiment varies by agency and role.
But treating loyal, long-serving employees as disposable, without honoring the retirement and benefit commitments made to them, risks turning a smart efficiency push into an unforced credibility problem.
Nearly two-thirds of U.S. federal workers said they wouldn't enter public service again, citing eroding job security and benefits, according to a recent poll of active and retired government employees.
https://t.co/9iNojl3MHI— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 3, 2026
The honest read is this: federal benefits on paper remain strong, but trust in the system delivering them has taken a real hit. Fixing that gap, not just cutting headcount, will decide whether the next generation of talented Americans still wants to work for Uncle Sam.
Sources:
opm.gov, brookings.edu, cbo.gov, govexec.com, youtube.com, bls.gov, narfe.org, ca.finance.yahoo.com
