But lack of opportunities, development programs affecting career progress
Canada’s public servants are largely satisfied with their employment, with 81 per cent indicating that they like their job, slightly up from 80 per cent in 2018, according to a survey by the federal government.
Seventy six per cent get a sense of satisfaction from their work (up from 75 per cent in 2018), 71 per cent are satisfied with their department or agency (up from 68 per cent in 2018) and 70 per cent would recommend their department or agency as a great place to work (up from 67 per cent in 2018).
Support
In 2019, 68 per cent of government employees felt valued at work, compared to 66 per cent in 2018. Nearly eight in 10 (79 per cent) are satisfied with the quality of supervision they receive (up from 75 per cent in 2018), and 62 per cent have confidence in senior management (up from 58 per cent in 2018, found the survey of 182,306 respondents.
Nearly three-fourths (74 per cent) indicated they have a clear work objective (up from 71 per cent in 2018) while 65 per cent receive meaningful recognition (up from 60 per cent in 2018).
Fewer (69 per cent) government employees felt that they get the training needed to do their job compared to 2018 (70 per cent) but more employees felt that their organization does a good job of supporting employee career development (57 per cent versus 53 per cent) and believed they have the opportunity for promotion in their department or agency, given their education, skills and experience (52 per cent versus 48 per cent).
Top factors that adversely affect career progress in the public service are a lack of opportunities in their region (20 per cent), a lack of access to developmental programs (16 per cent), a lack of access to learning opportunities and a lack of access to language training in their second official language (both 12 per cent).
The 2019 Public Service Employee Survey is available here.
