The 2025 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) has been cancelled, despite a federal law mandating it. It had been postponed several times prior to the confirmation of its cancellation. The annual FEVS is a snapshot poll survey gauging employee engagement, morale, and more in the federal workforce.

“A transformed workforce requires a transformed Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey,” OPM Director Scott Kupor said. “We are revising FEVS to remove questions added by the Biden-Harris administration and to refocus on core administration priorities: to restore a high-performance, high-efficiency, and merit-based civil service. FEVS will be back next year, new and improved.”

Many voices in the federal community expressed concerns about not collecting data in 2025, beyond the obvious non-compliance with federal law for agencies to conduct an annual workforce survey. There are concerns about the reliability of data in future years with the cancellation.

Max Stier, Partnership for Public Service’s President and CEO, said, “Many agency leaders have used the invaluable data they gather from the FEVS to create remarkable change in employee engagement and agency performance. By making this decision, the administration is depriving itself of the ability to make data-driven leadership decisions that can help government better deliver for the public.”

Additionally, Mika Cross, a government workplace expert who has led training at several FMA national conventions, said the following to FEDmanager: “The current administration is prioritizing hiring, retention, and efficiency primarily for positions they deem a priority for national security, those securing borders and supporting the warfighter. But without FEVS data, we’re flying blind on what motivates federal employees to stay, what drives performance, and what barriers exist to transformation. We lose the ability to benchmark progress, identify systemic risks, and tailor interventions that actually work.”