You may recall that in March 2010, I observed that the SEC's job ads curiously still touted the fact that that the agency was “RANKED THIRD BEST FEDERAL WORKPLACE FOR 2007!”(capital letters, bold face and exclamation point in original). I wasn't clear on why this ranking still held so much weight several years later, but I decided to get on board anyway and even designed tee shirts to show my support:

By September 2010, the "we're #3 in 2007" reference had disappeared from the SEC's job ads, presumably due to the release of the 2010 rankings which saw the SEC freefall down to a ranking of 24th out of 32 federal workplaces. I updated the tee shirt accordingly. 

Although the 2011 rankings came out in November 2011, I just learned this week that the SEC fell even further this time around--down to 27th out of 33 federal agencies reviewed. Ooofff. Alright, let me fix that one more time:

The trend for the SEC in these agency rankings, which are compiled by an organization called the Partnership for Public Service, is discouraging. Since 2005, the SEC's Overall Index Score (which tries to measure an agency's employee satisfaction and commitment) has declined every year, as follows:

2005: 73.1

2007: 71.9

2009: 66.2

2010: 62.0

2011: 58.3

The 2012 rankings will presumably be released in November 2012. Here's hoping for an SEC rebound this year.