The 5 Worst Places to Work in Government

Federal employees are becoming increasingly unhappy with their jobs.

The Office of Personnel Management’s annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey demonstrated that, and the Partnership for Public Service hammered it home with its own study based on OPM’s findings. More than 75 percent of agencies earned worse scores in 2013 than they received in 2012.

Some agencies, however, are doing far worse than others. Here is a look at the worst five agencies to work at -- as measured by an index score showing employee satisfaction and commitment to the job -- in three different categories: large agencies (more than 15,000 employees), mid-size agencies (1,000 to 14,999 employees) and small agencies (100 to 999 employees). All scores are out of a possible 100.

Worst Five Large Agencies

1.       Homeland Security Department (46.8)

2.       Department of the Army (55.6 - tie)

2.       Labor Department (55.6 - tie)

4.       Agriculture Department (56.1)

5.       Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, Defense Agencies, Department of Defense Field Activities (59.9)

Worst Five Mid-Size Agencies

1.       Housing and Urban Development Department (43.2)

2.       National Archives and Records Administration (47.1)

3.       Broadcasting Board of Governors (50.7)

4.       National Labor Relations Board (56.8)

5.       Small Business Administration (57.4)

Worst Five Small Agencies

1.       Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (26.8)

2.       Federal Election Commission (42.1)

3.       Federal Maritime Commission (42.5)

4.       Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (45.5)

5.       Export-Import Bank of the United States (50.1)

Read our full coverage of the PPS study here.