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OPM Wants to Cut the Survey Questions That Measure Federal Employee Morale

accountability federal employees federal workforce fevs opm rule Jul 09, 2026

The Mindful Federal Employee blog by Southworth PC

OPM has proposed rewriting the one survey that measures how federal employees actually feel about their jobs and their leadership. The proposed rule would decentralize the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), cut its core questions, and loosen public transparency — and, like OPM's other recent proposals, it is open for public comment now.

Some Background

Federal law has required an annual employee survey since 2004. Last year, for the first time in the survey's history, OPM canceled it entirely. Rather than simply restoring it, OPM has now issued a proposed rule — "Personnel Management in Agencies: Strategic Human Capital Management" — that would change the survey in three significant ways.

Three Key Changes

1. No more single governmentwide survey

Instead of OPM running one survey across the federal government, each agency would run its own, using a common set of core questions supplied by OPM.

2. Fewer core questions

The required core questions would drop from sixteen to ten. OPM says it is keeping the most "probative" items, but several of the questions being cut or rewritten touch on morale, workload, and satisfaction. For example, OPM has proposed replacing "I am given a real opportunity to improve my skills in my organization" with a question about whether a supervisor provides ongoing feedback.

3. Less transparency

The proposal would give each agency more control over how much of its own survey results the public ever sees.

What this Means for Federal Employees

If you have lived through the last eighteen months, you are not imagining the morale in your building. The fair question to ask is the one the rule invites: if the workforce were doing well, why change the survey so that fewer of the questions that would measure morale are asked and less of the result is made public? As with OPM's other recent proposals, this is a proposed rule — not final — and it can still change.

How to Weigh In

Because it is a proposal, the public can comment before it is finalized, and your comment goes into the official record. Go to regulations.gov and search docket OPM-2026-0368 for OPM's strategic human capital management proposed rule. It was published July 2, 2026, and comments are due by August 3, 2026 — confirm the current deadline on the site before relying on it.

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Legal Disclaimer: This content is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Federal employment situations are fact-specific and time-sensitive. Please consult a qualified federal employment attorney about your specific situation.

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