Federal employees are experiencing disruptions in the workplace at a rate far higher than the national average — and that’s leading to increases in stress and loneliness, as well as a decline in employee engagement, according to new data from Gallup.
Close to one-third — about 29% — of federal employees say their workplace has been disrupted “to a very large extent.” That’s nearly triple the 10% of U.S. employees who say the same, Gallup found in its third-quarter data for 2025.
Federal employees have experienced nearly a year of sweeping workforce overhauls. Over the course of 2025, the Trump administration has moved forward with reductions in force, an effort to decrease headcount through the deferred resignation program, mass firings of probationary employees, a full return-to-office push and a monthslong hiring freeze, among many other changes.
In its latest data, Gallup found that 24% of federal employees are “extremely” or “very” concerned about being laid off or seeing their position eliminated in the next 12 months. In comparison, 11% of U.S. employees said they were concerned about layoffs.
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Camille Lloyd, a senior consultant and director at Gallup, said the data this year has been more volatile than past years, which indicates that workplace changes are happening much faster than usual.
“What we are seeing, based on some of the changes from quarter to quarter, are signals that these changes are having immediate impact,” Lloyd said in an interview with Federal News Network.
Gallup surveys roughly 20,000 U.S. employees, as well as about 1,200 federal employees, on a quarterly basis to gauge trends in engagement, satisfaction and other key workforce areas.
The findings throughout 2025 show a clear toll on federal employees in particular. For instance, more federal employees than U.S. employees have reported feelings of anger and loneliness, Gallup found. The percentages of employees who are feeling stress, worry, anger and sadness are also all higher this year than they were in 2024.
Source: Gallup 2025 Q3 data on workforce trends in the U.S. and the federal government.
Engagement among federal employees has notably declined this year as well. While 33% of federal employees said they felt engaged in 2024, that percentage has more recently dropped to 28%, Gallup found. That’s slightly less than the 30% of U.S. employees who currently say they feel engaged at work.
To measure engagement, Gallup asks employees if they have their basic needs met at work, if they have clarity in their job responsibilities, if they feel equipped to do their jobs well, and if they feel supported in their contributions to their organization — alongside several other factors.
“We’ve been tracking engagement for over four decades — what we are seeing globally, and also nationally, is a downward trend in engagement,” Lloyd said.
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At the same time, just 17% of federal employees said they “strongly agree” they are satisfied with their place of employment as a place to work. When taken with the context that nearly a third of feds are experiencing large disruptions this year, Lloyd said the low satisfaction is not surprising.
“Clarity is important — and understanding that employees are probably in a state of flux where they really don’t understand or are clear on what their managers expect of them,” Lloyd said.
Historically, Gallup’s research has found that federal employees trend higher than the national average when asked if they believe the mission or purpose of their organization makes them feel that their work is important.
“But when we lack clarity, we know that those are the areas that tend to be impacted,” Lloyd said.
In a measure of whether employees are thriving, struggling or suffering, Gallup has reported a 7% increase in federal employees who are “struggling.” Currently, 47% of feds fall into that category, while 9% fewer federal employees — about 49% — are “thriving.”
Source: Gallup 2025 Q3 data on workforce trends in the U.S. and the federal government.
Lloyd noted that in past years, there is usually a large gap between those who are “thriving,” versus those who are “struggling.”
“But now among federal employees, and I would say to a larger extent nationally as well, we are seeing the difference between those who are thriving and those who are struggling are converging,” Lloyd said.
Gallup is hosting an event Thursday morning for federal managers, where experts will share data insights and recommendations for addressing current challenges in the federal workplace.
“Our life at work impacts our life outside of work,” Lloyd said. “If federal employees are telling us that they think that their world at work is being disrupted in a very significant way, and less and less of them are thriving at work, we are seeing that play out: Less and less of them are rating their overall lives in such a way that they’re thriving.”
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If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email drew.friedman@federalnewsnetwork.com or reach out on Signal at drewfriedman.11
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