2025 Public Service Viewpoint Survey Methodology The 2025 Public Service Viewpoint Survey was conducted by the Partnership for Public Service between Nov. 10 and Dec. 19, 2025. It was open to all permanent, civilian, career federal employees. They were invited to participate through communications from the Partnership and partner organizations. The Partnership took several steps to ensure the results of the Public Service Viewpoint Survey were valid and as representative as possible. Within the survey, we used several required screening questions and industry-standard techniques to identify ineligible responses. We also modeled our approach to response weighting on the methodology of the 2024 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey as closely as available workforce data allowed. After eligibility screening and weighing, a final sample of 11,083 responses from across executive branch agencies was used to generate the reported government-wide scores. Sufficient samples also were available for us to report on and compare 30 parent agencies. Any agencies not included in our findings either did not meet our minimum reporting threshold of 30 respondents or did not have workforce data available for weighting. For specific information on our survey administration, respondent screening, response weighting and score generation processes, please consult the 2025 Public Service Viewpoint Survey Technical Guide. Using Public Service Viewpoint Survey Results The 2025 Public Service Viewpoint Survey asked questions that address many of the same themes as the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, such as perceptions of leadership and employee engagement. In some cases, they use very similar or identical item language. Despite this similarity, significant methodological differences exist between the two surveys. This means that results from the 2025 Public Service Viewpoint Survey should not be directly compared with the results of previous federal agency employee surveys, such as deriving score increases or decreases. Instead, we suggest benchmarking 2025 agency results by comparing them with the 2025 government-wide results or agencies of similar size and function. Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Index Score Calculation The Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Index is an indicator that the Partnership for Public Service has used since 2003 as a part of our Best Places to Work in the Federal Government® rankings. The index provides a comprehensive rating across federal agencies on the commitment of their workforce, employees’ job and organizational satisfaction, and the willingness of those employees to put forth discretionary effort to achieve results. The index is derived from the three questions listed below that are typically included in federal employee surveys like OPM’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and our Public Service Viewpoint Survey. I recommend my organization as a good place to work. Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your job? Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your organization? To calculate the score, we use the percentage of positive responses to each question in a weighted formula. The more the question predicted intent to remain on the job in statistical testing, the higher the weighting. The percentage of positive responses is calculated by dividing the number of respondents who answered a question positively by the number of respondents who answered that question.
