City, state employees are proud of their work but face burnout, harassment

State and local government employees report high levels of job satisfaction across the country, but face significant rates of burnout and on-the-job harassment.

That’s according to a new national survey of nearly 5,000 public servants across all 50 states released today by The People Lab at Harvard University’s Kennedy School. Researchers say the survey, which includes respondents from hundreds of local governments, provides the nation’s most comprehensive analysis of workplace conditions in local governments.

Most employees reported high levels of job satisfaction: 82% said they were at least somewhat satisfied with their job, while 60% said they were satisfied or very satisfied. 

“That’s good news that people are still kind of proud to say they work for the government,” said Elizabeth Linos, faculty director of The People Lab.

But 40% of employees also reported experiencing at least one symptom of burnout. And 27% said they intended to leave their jobs in the next 12 months.

“You have such a big portion of your public sector workforce that are burnt out on any given day,” Linos said. “…And it’s not the pandemic and it’s not a particular crisis, so to me that says a lot about how much work we have to do to support our public servants.”

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State employees consistently reported less favorable workforce conditions than their city and county counterparts, with lower satisfaction, lower engagement and a substantially higher intent to leave.

The study initially aimed to survey local government employees, so it includes results from only about 320 state employees, compared with more than 4,400 employees in city, county and other local governments. 

Linos said future analyses would include more state employees to better understand the distinctions between levels of government. She expects the research may mirror polling on public perception of government, which finds people report more faith in their local governments than the federal government. 

“You could imagine a world where being able to see the impact of your work more directly leads to more workplace satisfaction than if you have to kind of make the case for how your work has impact, if you work at higher levels of government,” she said.

In the survey, 35% of employees reported experiencing harassment at work over the past year, defined as being bullied, threatened, attacked or harassed. That included 22% who reported harassment from internal sources such as coworkers or supervisors, while 17% reported harassment from external sources such as residents or the media. Those who reported harassment were far more likely to report emotional exhaustion at work and intentions to leave their jobs. 

Harassment levels were higher among local government employees and employees who identified as female, non-binary or other gender. 

Among those who shared their political party affiliation, Republican and Democratic public servants reported more favorable workforce conditions than independents across nearly every measure. 

Linos said the results should inform policymakers and government leaders alike. Every societal challenge — from transportation to climate change to housing — relies on a functioning public sector, she said. 

“The people of government, to me, are the central component of that capacity,” she said. “So if we don’t understand and appreciate the work that the people of government do, we’re not going to be able to solve the bigger public policy challenges that we’re trying to solve, and oftentimes that work is hidden from the public.”

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at [email protected].