"Ongoing Sorrows Revealed: Federal Employees Share the Mental Impact of Government Reduction"
The mental health of federal employees has been under strain in recent times, with a significant number reporting negative impacts on their well-being. An online survey conducted in June 2020 gathered responses from 3,647 individuals, including 3,294 current federal employees, 175 federal employees who left federal service in the last six months, and 104 contractors.
The survey revealed that nearly 90% of federal employees who responded have experienced mental health challenges that have affected their personal health and wellness. Over 62% reported feeling rarely or never supported by their agency leadership, and half of the federal employees expressed frustration with their agency's Employee Assistance Program, finding it ineffective.
Many federal employees described their workplace as a funeral every day, with no innovation happening. Some workers said their motivation decreased significantly, while others simply stated they don't care to go above and beyond anymore. Federal employees expressed a desire for the public and agency leaders to understand their commitment to public service and the toll recent changes have taken on their mental health.
The Trump administration's workforce changes and budget cuts appear to have contributed to this negative environment. Over 148,000 federal employees have separated from government service during and after Trump's terms, notably affecting departments like Treasury, Agriculture, and Defense. The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Education also underwent dramatic workforce reductions, with HHS cutting about 25% of its staff as part of consolidation efforts, and the Department of Education eliminating nearly a third of its employees following Supreme Court approval of these workforce restructuring plans.
These large-scale cuts likely increased workloads and stress for remaining employees. Additionally, the Trump administration's budget choices reduced federal commitment to mental health services. For example, the administration pushed a budget that cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid, the largest federal fund for mental health and addiction services, undermining progress in addressing the national mental health crisis.
Despite these challenges, many federal employees have reported struggling with high levels of anxiety, seeking therapy and medication for the first time in their lives, experiencing chronic insomnia, depression, aggressive outbursts, isolation, and even self-harming thoughts. Out of more than 2,100 respondents, nearly 55% reported that mental health played a major role in federal employees' decisions to leave or consider leaving their jobs.
Agencies have laid off thousands of probationary employees and offered voluntary leave options to over 2 million civilian employees. Some federal agencies have scrambled to rehire employees they previously let go, only to terminate some of them again. Entire offices and some agencies have been shut down as a result of these workforce cuts. Many federal employees lost most of their supervisors due to the recent changes.
Many federal employees expressed distrust toward their agencies' mental health resources, fearing they would be monitored or demoted if they used them. Out of the survey respondents, 2,032 individuals reported experiencing increased stress, anxiety, and depression as federal employees since January 2020.
In conclusion, the mental health of federal employees has been severely impacted by workforce downsizing, restructuring, and substantial budget cuts to mental health programs during the Trump administration. Although direct measures of employee mental health outcomes are not extensively documented, the anecdotal evidence and survey results suggest a need for increased support and understanding for federal employees in their commitment to public service.
- Federal court rulings on workforce restructuring plans, such as those involving the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education, have been met with criticism due to their potential impact on the mental health of the federal workforce, with many employees fearing increased stress, anxiety, and depression as a result.
- The reimagined federal workforce, following workforce downsizing and budget cuts during the Trump administration, has been highlighted as a significant contributing factor to the overall decline in the mental health of federal employees, with many expressing frustration with the lack of support from their agency leadership and the ineffectiveness of Employee Assistance Programs.
- The science behind mental health and well-being within the federal workforce suggests that the pronounced decline in mental health among federal employees, as evidenced by increased instances of anxiety, therapy, medication usage, chronic insomnia, depression, aggressive outbursts, isolation, and self-harming thoughts, could be linked to the administration's changes to civil service, including workforce reductions and budget cuts to mental health services, such as Medicaid.
