Exclusive survey: Feds don’t know whether they'll be furloughed

Looming shutdown hits morale at agencies, with half rating it as "low" or "very low."

More than half of federal managers and employees surveyed Wednesday said their agencies had not shared plans with them for implementing a shutdown of operations if funding for government agencies runs out Friday night -- and nearly as many didn't know whether or not they would be subject to a furlough.
This story has been updated.

A total of 56 percent of the 1,200 people who responded to the survey said their agency had not shared a shutdown plan with them, although almost one quarter -- 24 percent -- expected to receive notification of a plan this week. Many federal agencies began notifying their employees of their respective contingency plans throughout the day on Wednesday.

More than half the respondents said they did not know whether they would have to report to work during a shutdown. Twenty-three percent said they knew they would be excepted from a furlough and would be on the job. Many workers said the lack of information and direction from agency leadership has become frustrating.

"There's been no confirmation," one respondent said. "I'm a little concerned that we're three days away and I have no idea how I should react to the news on Saturday morning. This is becoming a long-term stressor."

The email survey of 1,200 federal managers and employees was conducted by Government Executive's research arm, the Government Business Council, on Wednesday afternoon. Virtually all the respondents were civilian federal employees, covering a host of agencies. More than 27 percent of those who completed the survey worked for the Defense Department or one of the military service agencies. Most respondents indicated they were at the GS-12 level or higher, and nearly half manage one or more direct reports.

The survey showed that agency morale is taking a hit as a result of the protracted budget battle. A plurality of respondents -- 48 percent -- rated morale at their agency as "low" or "very low." Only 13 percent considered their agency's employees to be motivated right now.

"People are working hard to get their work complete before a shutdown occurs, but they feel unappreciated and scared about paying bills," one respondent explained.

One-third of federal managers believed it is likely they will receive retroactive pay for the shutdown period. A full 44 percent were less optimistic and believed it is either "unlikely" or "highly unlikely" that they will receive back pay for the shutdown period. That opinion was echoed on Wednesday by Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., who said furloughed employees should not expect to receive back pay. Moran's Northern Virginia district is home to tens of thousands of federal workers and contractors.

"Furloughed employees received back pay in 1996, but the political climate was not nearly as polarized and federal employees had not been so thoroughly demonized and dehumanized in the political rhetoric as we have of late," one employee said.

Others were holding out hope that the economic consequences of at least 800,000 federal workers going unpaid, and therefore not spending their money elsewhere, would motivate Congress to provide reimbursement.

"I don't believe Congress can risk the financial fallout from not paying federal employees," a respondent said. "We have mortgages, car payments, utility bills, etc. that will not wait just because inept congressional folks cannot do their job."

A little more than 45 percent of those surveyed said they would cease all use of agency-issued mobile devices, such as laptop computers and BlackBerrys, in a shutdown, with another 40 percent saying their agencies had not provided such devices to them. Nearly half of respondents said they would cease all contact with their colleagues during a shutdown.

If a shutdown occurs, respondents said they would hold Congress most to blame. Survey takers, who were allowed to choose more than one option, pinned most of the fault -- nearly 66 percent -- on congressional Republicans, while almost 51 percent pointed the finger at Democrats. Forty-four percent blamed the Tea Party and 40 percent held the White House responsible.

No matter who is at fault, most agreed federal workers should not be victimized by the stalemate. "Cutbacks are a necessity, I agree," one worker said. "But politicians should not ask the federal workforce to bear the weight of bad decisions made by politicians."

More than 22 percent of respondents identified themselves as Republicans, compared to less than 21 percent as Democrats. The remainder identified themselves as either Independents, from another party, or declined to answer.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.