Not much is changing when it comes to how engaged Yukon government employees feel at work, according to the Public Service Commission's latest survey.

The questionnaire, which costs the government around $70,000 every year, asks employees to agree or not with a set of statements like, "I am satisfied with my job”, "I am inspired to give my best” and "I strive to improve my department's results”.

The results?

A 60 per cent engagement score – the exact same number as last year.

Catharine Read, the Public Service Commissioner, said at a press conference Thursday afternoon that although it looks like the numbers didn't change at all, they did fluctuate quite a bit on a department-to-department basis.

The commissioner stressed that it's important to do these surveys every year because deputy ministers and people working around them are expending a lot of energy to improve the scores.

"We need a snapshot of what's happening right now,” she said.

The reason the government is so concerned with these scores, Read continued, is because engagement has been proven to have a direct link to public satisfaction. Every two per cent increase in employee engagement results in a one per cent increase in public satisfaction, explained Read.

The Yukon is trailing slightly behind national employee engagement scores, which average around 66 per cent.

The survey, completed by Ipsos-Reid, found that employees are more keen in the first two years of their job, compared to people who have been employed in the same position for any time longer than that. It also found that rural employees were more engaged than employees who work in Whitehorse.

Forty-five per cent of government workers responded to the survey, down from 52 per cent last year. A total of 2,134 out of the approximately 4,700 YTG workers responded to the survey.

Read said the drop in participation is probably a result of "survey fatigue”.

She thinks another reason engagement levels are not rising is due to indirect effects from the territory's economic boom.

"Government workers are stretched more and more, and the number of people who feel like they are getting worked to the breaking point is getting higher,” she said.

Read used mining inspectors, social service employees and highway crews as examples of people suffering from a lack of resources.

"And the list goes on,” she said.

Engagement numbers varied a bit more on a departmental basis, with the biggest leap taking place in the Public Service Commission (PSC) department itself.

The department's employee engagement score dropped 12 per cent this year, from 74 to 62 per cent.

Read had a simple explanation for this: change.

She took over Pat Daws' position as Public Service Commissioner last year. Daws, she explained, had been the commissioner for almost two decades after succeeding Jean Besier.

"The reality is, if there is a change like this, scores will go down,” said Read.

Right before employees received the survey, she said, she announced there would be organizational and staff changes to the department.

"People knew there was going to be change, but they didn't know what it was going to be or how it was going to affect them,” said Read.

As for how PSC employees reacted to this change, Read said there was shock in some areas.

"This was an extremely stable department for so long,” she continued.

In the survey's open-ended comments section, 31 people said the survey hasn't or won't make any difference to how the government functions. Twenty-four people said they need to see the government's plans in moving forward with the survey results.

Eleven per cent of the comments were negative, while 84 per cent of participant didn't respond to this section.

Below are the employee engagement scores for each department:

Education: 62 per cent in 2011. 58 per cent in 2010. 24 per cent participation.

Economic Development: 58 per cent in 2011. 54 per cent in 2010. 74 per cent participation.

Justice: 52 per cent in 2011. 52 per cent in 2010. 59 per cent participation.

Public Service Commission: 62 per cent in 2011. 74 per cent in 2010. 65 per cent participation.

Finance: 77 per cent in 2011. 73 per cent in 2010. 59 per cent participation.

Health and Social Services: 60 per cent in 2011. 60 per cent in 2010. 44 per cent participation.

Yukon Lottery Corp., Yukon Housing Corp., Yukon Liquor Corp.: 59 per cent in 2011. 58 per cent in 2010. 57 per cent participation.

Community Services: 55 per cent in 2011. 58 per cent in 2010. 55 per cent participation.

Environment: 67 per cent in 2011. 69 per cent in 2010. 56 per cent participation.

Energy, Mines and Resources: 62 per cent in 2011. 66 per cent in 2010. 76 per cent participation.

Tourism and Culture: 54 per cent in 2011. 55 per cent in 2010. 59 per cent participation.

Highways and Public Works: 55 per cent in 2011. 52 per cent in 2010. 34 per cent participation.

Yukon Workers' Compensation, Health and Safety Board: 71 per cent in 2011. 68 per cent in 2010. 73 per cent participation.

Executive Council Office: 75 per cent in 2011. 72 per cent in 2010. 66 per cent participation.