This data only represents the 92,008 Victorian public sector employees who voluntarily responded to the People matter survey 2021.
We've included data from 2016 to 2021.
Some visuals only show data from 2019 and 2021.
This is because the questions are new or can’t be compared to earlier years.
We don’t show the data from 2020 as some organisations couldn’t take part in the 2020 survey as they were responding to the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Therefore, the 2020 data isn't a true representation of the public sector.
We’ve broken down the data in 3 ways:
Read more about the response rate to the People matter survey 2021.
The Commission uses strict rules to protect the privacy and anonymity of respondents at every stage of the survey.
We don’t release employee opinion results for demographic groups where industries have less than 30 total responses.
Read our privacy policy.
Read more about the People matter survey 2021.
For data on the whole Victorian public sector workforce go to Workforce data facts and visuals.
The key findings are for the Victorian public sector.
Overall work-related wellbeing fell in 2021 compared to 2019.
Respondents who experienced high to severe stress:
How work made respondents feel often, very often or always:
Respondents who feel their organisation and leaders support their psychological and physical safety at work rose to 60% from 51% in 2019.
Employee engagement rose to 70 index points from 67 in 2019.
Work-related stress describes an employee's stress response to work-related factors.
These responses may be physical, mental, emotional or behavioural, such as:
Lower work-related stress is linked to positive organisational outcomes, such as job retention and performance.
This first graph shows the percentage of respondents who reported high, very high or severe levels of stress in response to work-related factors.
High to severe levels of stress can negatively affect employees’ health and wellbeing as well as their performance and behaviour.
In this final graph, respondents who experienced high to severe stress reported on what work-related factors contributed to their stress.
The results may add up to more than 100% because respondents could choose more than one answer.
Emotional effects of work are the positive and negative feelings respondents experienced in the 3 months before the survey.
Positive feelings may lead to higher wellbeing and job satisfaction and a lower chance of burnout.
This graph shows the percentage of respondents whose work made them feel enthusiastic.
The results combine the answers of often, very often or always.
This graph shows the percentage of respondents whose work made them feel happy.
The results combine the answers of often, very often or always.
This graph shows the percentage of respondents whose work made them feel miserable.
The results combine the answers of often, very often or always.
This graph shows the percentage of respondents whose work made them feel worried.
The results combine the answers of often, very often or always.
This graph shows the percentage of respondents who feel their organisation supports their safety at work.
A safe workplace is a key outcome of Leading the way and the Victorian public sector mental health and wellbeing charter.
It combines agree and strongly agree answers to these statements:
This graph shows how engaged respondents are with their organisation because of the work they do.
A high employee engagement rating indicates employees are enthusiastic and energetic about their work.
The employee engagement index is a score out of 100.
The engagement statements are:
The weightings for each engagement response are:
The index is the average of these scores.
This graph shows the percentage of respondents who feel satisfied with their jobs, work-life balance and career development.
High satisfaction may lead to improved engagement, wellbeing, performance and lower absences and turnover.
It combines satisfied and very satisfied answers to these questions:
This graph shows the percentage of respondents who intend to:
An intention to stay in the organisation or the public sector may indicate satisfaction and engagement.
In this graph, respondents who intend to leave their organisation report on why.
It provides insight into what might be driving employees to leave.