An employee survey that shows morale problems among city staff, particularly the fire department, are being taken seriously, said Fredericton Mayor Brad Woodside.

A confidential survey of city employees obtained by CBC News showed that only 13 per cent of the firefighters taking part in the survey said morale is good and 13 per cent said they had confidence in senior management.

Eighty-one per cent of the firefighters said disagreeing with management can hurt their career.

Woodside said the problem is being dealt with and says his city remains an "employer of choice."

"Are people all happy? No. That's why we do these surveys because we want this kind of input to take the necessary action," Woodside said.

"Now, if we didn't act, that would be a news story. But the good news is that we do act. We do take this seriously and we'll correct the problem."

Staff are now trying to figure out what is causing the problems in the fire department and how to remedy them, said Woodside.

"It's not rocket science, if you have a problem, and you don't look at it, you don't address it, then it becomes a serious problem," Woodside said.

"But if you look at it and address it and make a change, then that's a positive thing. And this exercise is meant to be a positive exercise."

More than half of the employees who participated in the city-commissioned survey conducted by Ipsos Reid last fall said city managers do not do a good job communicating. A large majority said that staff are not consulted about changes at city hall and that reforms aren't well managed.

Almost two-thirds of the 664 permanent city employees responded to the survey.

The margin of error was 2.8 percentage points 19 times out of 20.