Report: Local government workforce still suffering
Retaining staff needed for core services, reducing employee health care costs, and addressing employee morale and workload problems are the top workforce issues facing local and state governments, according to a report from the Washington-based Center for State and Local Government Excellence (CSLGE). “State and Local Government Workforce: 2011 Realities” is a follow up to one CSLGE conducted in late fall 2009, “The Great Recession and the State and Local Government Workforce.”
The “2011 Realities” survey, released in May, found that 25 percent of respondents report that employees are accelerating their plans for retirement, and 71 percent say their workforce has shrunk since the 2008 economic downturn. Other workforce changes most commonly cited are:
• Shifted more health care costs to employees (72 percent)
• Pay freezes (62 percent)
• Hiring freezes (54 percent)
• Layoffs (41 percent)
• Created wellness programs (33 percent)
• Shifted more health care costs to retirees (23 percent)
• Raised contributions to pension plans (23 percent, new hires; 22 percent, current employees)
Respondents report that they continue to have a hard time filling a number of positions, including engineers; environmental, chemical and forensic credentialed professionals; finance; police and firefighters; information technology professionals; librarians; nurses and physicians; middle and top management; skilled trades; and social workers. “As they face hiring freezes, morale issues, layoffs and accelerating retirements, more than 70 percent of state and local governments say staff development is a priority issue,” said CSLGE President and CEO Elizabeth Kellar in a statement. “This takes on added importance as you examine trend data. The number of retirement-eligible employees who have moved up their retirement date has more than doubled in the last year.”
The survey was conducted among members of the Alexandria, Va.-based International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR) and the Lexington, Ky.-based National Association of State Personnel Executives from April 18 to May 3. “The survey results confirm that the public sector continues to face extremely challenging times, with difficult workforce issues that need to be addressed,” said Neil Reichenberg, executive director of IPMA-HR. “The actions taken by the public sector over the past several years to address budget gaps have resulted in a smaller workforce facing increased workloads. One of the key challenges for the public sector will be to remain an employer of choice that can compete for talent, especially in critical high skills areas.”
Read more about “State and Local Government Workforce: 2011 Realities.”
