The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has proposed significant changes to the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), the annual survey used to measure employee engagement, workplace satisfaction, and leadership across the federal government.
If finalized, the proposal would shift responsibility for administering the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey from OPM to individual agencies, reduce the number of required survey questions, and give agencies greater discretion over how much of their survey data is released publicly.
What Would Change?
For more than two decades, OPM has administered a governmentwide survey that allows agencies to measure employee engagement using a consistent set of questions.
Under the proposal, agencies would conduct their own surveys while still including a standardized group of questions developed by OPM. The required core questions would be reduced from 16 to 10, with several questions on employee morale, workload, and professional development removed or revised. New questions focused on managers’ expectations and accountability would also be added.
OPM says the goal is to make the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey a more effective management tool and provide agencies with greater flexibility.
Why Are Some People Concerned?
Workforce organizations and some members of Congress argue the proposal could make it more difficult to compare employee engagement across agencies and track long-term trends.
Critics have also expressed concern that allowing agencies to decide how much survey data to release could reduce transparency and limit public insight into workplace conditions across the federal government.
The proposal also follows OPM’s decision not to conduct the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey in 2025, the first time the annual survey was skipped since it began in 2002.
What Happens Next?
The proposal is now open for public comment before any final rule is adopted. If approved, the revised Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey could first be used during the 2026 survey cycle.
Although the proposal does not directly affect federal pay or retirement benefits, it could change how employee engagement is measured, how agencies compare workplace performance, and how the public evaluates the federal workforce going forward.
