The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been named the worst place to work in government for the second year in a row, according to an annual survey of federal employees.
Among agencies with more than 15,000 workers, DHS ranked last with a 46.8 percent satisfaction score. Also near the bottom were the Department of Agriculture (56.1), Department of the Army (55.6), and the Department of Labor (55.6).
DHS, whose mission is to "secure the nation from the many threats we face," scored last in all but five of the 28 categories measuring worker satisfaction, including the poorest scores for effective leadership, teamwork, and "support for diversity."
The agency, which has over 169,000 employees, received its lowest score ever, down from 52.9 in 2012.
The Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit group that "works to revitalize our federal government" and conducts the survey, said the results are "disturbing":
The 2013 Best Places to Work data present a disturbing picture of federal employees throughout the government who are increasingly dissatisfied with their jobs and workplaces. Government-wide, the federal employee job satisfaction and commitment level dropped for the third year in a row, tumbling 3 points to a score of 57.8 on a scale of 100. This represents the lowest overall Best Places to Work score since the rankings were first launched in 2003, and follows a 3.2-point drop in 2012 and a 1-point decline in 2011. In contrast, private-sector employee satisfaction improved by 0.7 points in 2013 to a score of 70.7, according to Hay Group.
NASA was named the best place to work in the government for the second year in a row, while it paid people to "lie around and do nothing" on one of its recent projects. Others in the top five were the Department of Commerce, the Intelligence Community, the State Department, and the Department of Justice.