After years of unprecedented workforce shortages, state and local governments are finally experiencing some relief in recruitment challenges. Key occupations, including information technology, dispatch, and policing, have seen a decline of at least ten percentage points since 2022 in the share of governments reporting these positions as hard to fill. However, a significant workforce issue still looms: the impending wave of public service worker retirements.

These findings are detailed in a new research report, State and Local Workforce: 2024 Survey Findings. Conducted annually since 2009 by MissionSquare Research Institute in collaboration with the Public Sector HR Association and the National Association of State Personnel Executives (NASPE), this survey focuses on recruitment, retention, compensation, and staff development challenges faced by state and local governments.

Read the research.
Watch a video detailing the research findings.

“The data indicate that state and local governments are making real progress when it comes to addressing their workforce shortages,” said Gerald Young, MissionSquare Research Institute Senior Researcher. “Government employers have been experimenting with a range of initiatives that are getting results – marketing campaigns, hiring bonuses, pay boosts, and modifications to job requirements. The next challenge for state and local leaders will be ensuring they have ample workers as a large portion of the workforce retires from public service.”

Additional key survey findings are as follows:

• Anticipated Retirements: 54% of respondents expect the largest wave of retirements to occur in the next few years. To prepare, 32% have or are developing formal succession planning processes.

• Compensation: While 73% respondents consider their total compensation competitive, only 60% believe their wages are competitive. Approximately 53% have implemented broad-based pay increases in the past year.

• Staffing Trends: About 21% of governments report full-time staffing increases of 5% or more, while only 2% report decreases.

• Hiring Bonuses: Bonuses are offered broadly (4%) or in a targeted manner (33%), with 13% requiring repayment if an employee stays less than one year.

• Degree Requirements: More than half of the respondents have dropped some degree requirements, with 8% eliminating them for more than 10% of authorized positions.

“State and local leaders should be applauded for their tenacity when it comes to addressing the public workforce crisis,” said PSHRA CEO Cara Woodson Welch. “While challenges remain, agencies are making real progress attracting and keeping qualified workers to deliver essential public services through strategic human resources initiatives. PSHRA and its members will utilize these findings as we continue to implement pragmatic solutions that ensure a stable workforce citizens can rely upon.”

“It’s so encouraging that we’re seeing results from the thoughtful worker recruitment and retention strategies deployed by jurisdictions,” said NASPE Executive Director Leslie Scott Parker. “For example, efforts to modify job descriptions and degree requirements clearly are helping fill positions. It’s also clear that raising salaries is helping address the public worker shortage, which is increasingly important given the impending wave of retirements.” 

The survey, conducted from March 8 through April 25, 2024, involved 300 state and local government human resource staff respondents.