Federal workforce changes in 2025 were accompanied by measurable shifts in how employees experienced their work. Gallup research found that federal employees reported higher levels of burnout following workforce reforms, but some engagement and satisfaction measures later showed signs of recovery as employees adapted to the changes.

While these trends are often viewed through an employee experience lens, they also signal broader workforce management challenges that can impact operational readiness and workers’ compensation outcomes.

Burnout can influence how consistently work gets done, how employees recover from disruptions, and how agencies maintain continuity while navigating organizational change. For federal agencies managing large and complex workforces, these challenges can create long-term impacts that affect how agencies support employees and manage risk over time.

What Recent Workforce Data is Showing

Findings from the Partnership for Public Service’s 2025 Public Service Viewpoint Survey highlight the challenges federal employees experienced following the recent reforms.

The survey was developed after the government discontinued its long-running Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, creating a gap in how employee sentiment was measured and leading outside organizations to step in to better understand the federal workforce experience.

The findings showed significant declines in employee confidence and engagement. Overall engagement scores fell to 32 out of 100, with more than half of employees reporting that their engagement had worsened over the past year.

The data also showed that employees remained committed to public service. The challenge was a disconnect between employees’ dedication to their work and their confidence in the workplace systems supporting them.

For agencies managing workers’ compensation programs, understanding these workforce shifts is important because employee wellbeing can influence how workplace challenges are managed and how employees move through recovery. Workforce disruption can have effects that extend beyond engagement scores, influencing how employees respond to challenges, how quickly they return after an absence, and how organizations support recovery during periods of uncertainty.

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