Dive Brief:
- Public sector entities are facing challenges due to the departure of Baby Boomers who are hitting retirement age, according to American City and County.
- For example, the Pew Research Center found that about 10,000 Americans daily will turn 65 between 2011 and 2030, eventually comprising 26% of the U.S. population. A different study, from IPMA-HR, found that 40% of participating organizations reports they could lose 20% or more of their employees to retirement within the next five years.
- To combat that trend, cities and counties nationwide are looking to innovations including leadership institutes, onsite graduate level education, internship programs and extensive outreach to the next generation as a way to mitigate that trend.
Dive Insight:
“The public sector workforce is getting older,” Neil Reichenberg, executive director of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR) said in the article. “We haven’t figured out how to delay aging.”
Looking to meet staffing needs, cities and counties are boosting their recruiting efforts. For example, in Multnomah County, Ore., which includes Portland, HR leaders are promoting the value of public service as a way to find needed talent, according to Travis Graves, the county’s human resources director. “In public service, people feel that this work matters, an opportunity to give back to the community,” Graves told American City and County. “We’re helping the vulnerable and the needy.”
The article then outlines more examples of how to manage the public sector talent challenge, including improved succession planning, boosting competitive recruiting strategies in certain markets, such as technology, and tapping in-house talent.
