It’s been a year since a new administration took over in Washington. During that time, numerous changes were either made or proposed that impacted the federal workforce.
Right off the bat, there was a hiring freeze put in place, and efforts have been made to reduce the size of the federal workforce. Some agencies have seen more of this than others, such as the EPA.
Changes were proposed for federal retirement as part of the 2018 budget, such as eliminating COLAs and increasing employee contributions to annuities, although these types of proposals are nothing new and have been talked about in some form for years.
The declaration of a national opioid crisis has led to new mandatory drug testing guidelines for some federal employees for these types of drugs.
2018 got off to a rocky start when disputes among lawmakers culminated in a brief government shutdown that left federal employees wondering if they would be out of work for an extended period of time.
On the brighter side, federal employees got a 1.9% average pay increase for 2018. The economy is also humming along at a good pace, with the stock market setting new records and leading to an explosion of new millionaires in the Thrift Savings Plan.
The survey is now closed. You can read the results in this article: How Do Federal Employees Rate President Trump in His First Year?
