Serving Alongside the Shadow: Civil Servants and Contracted Public Wor

Much government work is performed through cooperation, both within public organizations and increasingly across organizational boundaries, as cooperation is essential for achieving collective public goals. Research has demonstrated that employees who work in an uncooperative environment are less likely to share knowledge, be transparent, and resolve conflict easily---and subsequently are less satisfied in their jobs. Some observers suggest that working in a heavily contracted environment may affect cooperation among employees managing interorganizational relationships. Is contracting out of government work negatively related perceptions of cooperation and job satisfaction among government workers? To answer this question, I combine data from the U.S. Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and contracting data from the Federal Procurement Data System. I use a composite measure---cooperation at work---to investigate attitudinal relationships in contracting environments over time. Results suggest contracting is positively related to perceptions of cooperation but negatively related to job satisfaction. These findings imply that, while public managers face challenges with employees who remain in government and work with contractors, new approaches to facilitating and managing relationships in increasingly cooperative work environments are necessary to leverage institutional cooperation toward more desirable outcomes. While cooperation is positively related to job satisfaction in the public sector, job satisfaction may be reduced by the additional management required in contracting relationships.