The agency is hamstrung by outdated values and hierarchy that doesn't serve it any longer. Politics on a local and national level determine goals and values instead of its core mission. A shrinking budget that doesn't allow hiring top talent nor allows the removal of dead weight is causing cancerous growth to appear in the workforce as top talent leaves the grifters for better pastures.
Furthermore, with the recent slow down and regretful turn to subjugated following to Congressional whims and top politician sway, the agency is teetering on becoming less relevant and useful to the American people. Job security was sometimes more important than actually doing the work the agency is capable of doing, thus bringing uncertainty to why people are working there among the staff or, worse, actual undermining of helpful programs and agency actions by its own staff.
Career advancement is nearly impossible, there are no plans for growth or succession in place, and workload is increasing substantially while knowledgeable staff is literally being paid to leave in droves to avoid furloughs. This is causing consternation and fear among staff as well as causing younger talent to be placed in positions where they will either fail or become burned out for being merely "successful" in unclear roles and undefined positions that have no clear benefit to the agency's core mission.
Pay is usually acceptable, but it's also clear that pay is not standardized among similar positions so while one person might receive a large amount of money for little demonstrable effort and deliverables another who delivers constantly above and beyond might receive significantly less than what the private sector would provide. It is also clear that it isn't what you do but who you know if you want a pay raise, appearance is more important than actual work, and accountability is nearly non-existent encouraging a culture of doing the bare minimum.
Management below senior level readily admits to these problems but literally shrugs their shoulders and claims "that's the way it is" and "I know and I agree, but nothing can be done". Staff can literally break the law, and if they are senior enough, they won't even be talked to about it. I have received physical threats and been nearly beaten by people for merely requesting they follow the same rules and procedures as the rest of the staff who are not as senior as them. Senior management is generally non-existent. They are in eight hour long meetings where it is unclear what they are doing, making an effort to appear they are working while leaving early everyday, or actually not showing up to work or being available when they say they are without any actual accountability or oversight due to their "leadership".
Employee satisfaction has fallen dramatically, trust in senior management has degraded to Congress approval level bad, and continued resource cuts and an aging staff are quickly making the agency irrelevant to current challenges the nation and our world faces.
