Evening star., 1949-05-02
Commission Reports
On Worry, Frustration
OF Federal Workers

vi TeucIdl WUIkeIS
The Governments loyalty in.
vestigation, the operations OF ths
grapevine" and appropriation
time on Capitol Hill all contribute
to the job fears of Federal EN-.
ployes.
So reports commission formed
by the Federal Employe Menta
Hygiene Clinic in an article ir
the official publication of the So.
ciety for Personnel Administra-
ton.
The commission set out to study
"occupational insecurity among
employees of the United States
Government" Members of the
commission were all doing medical
or personnel work within the
Government service.
They found Government work
ers have some unusual problems
For instance, the commission re-
ported, the morale of Govern
ment workers takes a beating be-
cause of the ideas Of the gen.
eral public has about them.
Causes Are Listed.
THE employe," the commission
found. "resents such generalized
implications as lazy incompe-
tent inefficient 'bureaucrat
and 'crackpot'."
But the Government workers
have many other reasons for feel
ing insecure about their jobs, said
the medical personnel officers.
Here are some of the reasons they
cited:
The general level of insecurity
is raised just before the annual
rating Of employees efficiency.
Although few jobs have been
affected by the loyalty investiga-
ton, anxiety and feelings of in
security have been caused, how
ever, by the fact that this is a
unique situation in which the en-
ploye has felt subjected to special
measures and in which his per-
sonal or occupational integrity
has been questioned"
Since an employees job fate often
depends on the annual budget
appropriation. "apprehensiveness
and insecurity increase at the time
such appropriations are being
considered by Congress"
Rumors spread a lot more
quickly through the "unofflcial
and informal methods of COM
munications sometimes known as
the grapevine" than through Off
cial channels. Before the rumors
can be officially verified or denied,
Government workers have plenty
of time to work up acute feelings
of insecurity"
In Government, shifts OF agen-
cies and cuts in staff may be
abrupt, far-reaching and not
easily predictable by the employe
himself" Changes may be sched-
uled and then followed by delay,
postponement and uncertainty.
Government employees try to- pre-
dict the, changes by. reading the
newspapers and Interpreting
rumors. Since that makes the
rumor factory work overtime. the
workers are left in IAN almost
constant state of uncertainty"
Proposals for reorganization Of
Government departments are
guaranteed to disturbg the equili-
brium of the employees until Con-
gress or the President decides
whether they are going to be re-
organized.
Illustrations Found.
The commission also took a look
at the Illustrations Government
employees can work up over their
jobs.
Federal workers trying to COM
municate anything have to go
through channels, the commission
pointed out. What might seem
a simple problem becomes de
cidedly complex" when it has to
go through SO many middlemen.
This, the commission found, con-
tributes to a feeling of Illustration
and anxiety.
Some employees. said the COM
mission, find it hard to take the
idea of social distinctions. In some
agencies, according to this report,
employees are definitely encour-
aged to associate with those of
their own grade or position and
discouraged from having social
participation with those of either
higher or lower grades"
The commission did not eSti-
mate how many Government en-
ployes gre plagued by these fears
but commented that all the COM
mission members have frequently