Employee engagement
In the 2025 Public Service Census, we asked a range of questions about work motivation. Nearly everyone (96%) said it was important that their work contributes to the common good. Most (78%) said their work gives them a sense of accomplishment and are enthusiastic about their job (72%). More than half (57%) would recommend their agency as a good place to work.
Overall 62% were satisfied with their job, down from 69% in 2021. This compares to 74% for New Zealand overall in the General Social Survey conducted in 2023.
Learn more about the General Social Survey on the StatsNZ website.
Wellbeing – workload and stress
Workload was above capacity for many respondents, with 42% being slightly above capacity – lots of work to do, and 23% being well above capacity – too much work to do. About a third (30%) were at capacity – about the right amount of work to do, and 5% said they were available for more work.
Close to half (44%) of public servants experienced work stress[1] often or always over the last 12 months. In the 2025 Public Service Census, 19% reported that they had a mental health condition. People with a mental health condition were far more likely to report experiencing work stress always (18% vs 8% without mental health conditions) or often (45% vs 31% without mental health conditions).
Health, safety and wellbeing support
The 2025 Public Service Census asked about leadership support for health and safety. We found that 81% of public servants agreed that their manager cares about their health and wellbeing.
More broadly, 67% agreed that leaders in their organisation demonstrate a commitment to continuously improving health and safety, and 53% agreed that leaders are committed to addressing work factors that impact mental health.
Workplace injuries
The Commission has worked with the health and safety functional lead, ACC and Stats NZ to produce 2 health and safety metrics (as shown in the visualisation below).
- All ACC claims in the Public Service per 1,000 FTEs.
- Entitlement ACC claims per 1,000 FTEs (serious claims that involve additional payments beyond medical fees).
Historically, the incidence of such claims in the Public Service workforce is around half that in the wider New Zealand workforce.
In the Public Service, the rate of ‘all ACC claims’ had remained relatively unchanged until 2020, when it dropped (from 43.0 per thousand FTEs in 2019, to 35.1 per thousand in 2020). There was also a sharp fall in all work-related claims in the wider New Zealand workforce in 2020, which Stats NZ notes coincided with the national COVID-19 lockdown in the first half of that year. The rate of ‘All ACC claims has generally continued to fall in the Public Service and New Zealand as whole, although the Public Service saw a slight increase in 2023 for the Public Service to 29.6 per thousand.
The Public Service ‘ACC entitlement claims’ rate peaked in 2019 (at 10.7 per thousand FTEs) but has now returned to a more typical level in recent years (at 8.4 per thousand in 2023). Stats NZ report that the New Zealand incidence rate for claims involving entitlement payments was 16 per thousand FTEs in 2022. This rate has remained relatively stable for nearly a decade.
Note that the Public Service results for the latest year are provisional. They are generally revised upwards in the following year when more complete administrative ACC data is available.
In 2017, the Public Service established a Public Service Health and Safety Functional Lead to work with organisations and the sector generally.
Government Health and Safety Lead – HealthandSafety.govt.nz
The latest official workplace injury statistics can be found on the Stats NZ website.
Sick and domestic leave
In the year to 30 June 2024, Public Service employees took on average 10.2 days of sick and domestic leave, an increase from 9.5 days in 2023, reaching the highest level since measurement began in 2000.
Health measures by occupation and age group
[1] In the survey work stress is defined as “when being at work, or the work itself, makes you feel tense, anxious, or less able to cope”.