It’s Time to Stem the Great Resignation and Lead the Great Rejuvenation
How Public Employers Can Shift Focus to Recruit and Retain a Talented Workforce
May 1, 2022
By Rivka Liss-Levinson, PhD and Gerald Young – MissionSquare Research Institute
In this third year of grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. is on the brink of a public sector workforce crisis.
Public sector staffing shortages due to the pandemic continue to increase as workers face unrelenting stress, burnout, anxiety, and compassion fatigue. At the same time, workers are re-evaluating the intersection of their personal and professional priorities. For many, this period of reflection has led to the conclusion that it is time to leave their jobs.
New findings from a MissionSquare Research Institute survey of 1,100 state and local government workers reveal that 52% of state and local workers are considering leaving their jobs voluntarily due to COVID-19 to change jobs, retire, or leave the workforce entirely. Basically, if you’re a public sector employee and you’re not considering leaving your job, then the person sitting next to you is.
The same study found that 6 in 10 survey respondents say that their organization has experienced an increase in the number of people leaving their jobs voluntarily since the start of the pandemic. Respondents most frequently attribute these departures to the added stress people are experiencing from the pandemic, concerns about safety and COVID-19 at work, and people rethinking what they want to do.
And when employees do leave, it has a reverberating impact on those who remain. The vast majority (78%) of those surveyed reported that the increase in the number of people leaving voluntarily has put a strain on their workload.
So, what can employers do to stem these departures, and instead instill a sense of pride and excitement about working in state and local government?
1) Increase compensation: State and local government employees surveyed reported that their top recommendations for improving retention were salary increases and offering bonuses. Employers should consider how they can increase compensation, whether utilizing recent federal funds and increased tax and fee revenues, repurposing existing funds, or pursuing other options.
2) Show appreciation and recognition: Nearly 4 in 10 respondents surveyed suggested that employers could improve retention by showing more appreciation and recognition of employees and the work they do. Employers need to recognize the ways in which employees have gone above and beyond in their jobs during the pandemic, and take actions to demonstrate that appreciation, e.g., provide more flexibility in schedule, write personalized thank you notes to employees, acknowledge individuals at team meetings, showcase staff out in the community.
3) Provide financial wellness resources: With many employees taking on additional debt and/or spending from their emergency fund to make ends meet during the pandemic, workers are looking to their employer for programs and resources that can help their financial health. Explore the possibility of offering programs that help set aside money from one’s paycheck into an emergency savings fund, programs that automatically increase contribution amounts to a secondary retirement savings plan every year up to a preset maximum, programs that automatically enroll employees into a supplemental retirement savings plan, and free online financial wellness resources.
4) Prioritize safety and mental health: Employees are feeling stressed, burnt out/fatigued, and anxious while at work due to the pandemic, and many are concerned about exposure to COVID-19 while working in person. Implement safety measures to reduce this stress and anxiety, and provide emotional support, e.g., respect, acknowledgment, encouragement, to improve morale and productivity.
5) Emphasize employee impact on community: Nearly 6 in 10 public sector employees surveyed reported that they value serving their community during this difficult time. Emphasize the critical role that these workers are playing in making a difference in their communities, and in keeping essential services and programs running across the country. This may also promote the greater personal satisfaction to be gained from a career in public service.
6) Don’t forget employee development and succession planning: Regardless of pandemic-influenced departures, state and local governments face a wave of older workers reaching retirement age. To preserve institutional knowledge and maximize retention of remaining staff, prioritize training, mentoring, and job rotation opportunities to develop talent and leadership potential throughout the organization.
To get a better handle on recruitment and retention challenges and effective responses, MissionSquare Research Institute has been surveying both employees and human resources directors on a regular basis. The employee survey outlined above is the fourth in a series since the pandemic began. The human resource manager survey has been conducted since 2009.
As of 2021, one of the parallel challenges noted was the continuing impact of retirements. While the trend after the Great Recession was for retirement-eligible employees to postpone their retirement, that trend had been replaced by a growing share accelerating their retirement plans. At the same time, 52% of respondents were indicating that the largest wave of expected retirements to hit their workforce was still to come in the next few years.
To counter pressures of the pandemic and increasing retirements, governments have pointed to recruitment campaigns built around public service, outreach to targeted neighborhoods or diverse demographics, as well as retention efforts that include employee assistance programs and mental health support, wellness benefits, employee recognition, and paid family leave.
Full results of the 2021 survey are posted now, with the 2022 results due to be posted later this spring. Click here to access the latest workforce survey report.
As we enter into the next phase of the pandemic, much remains unknown about how considering leaving one’s job in state and local government will translate into actual departures. But even if a fraction of those considering leaving do exit, that will have a significant impact on the ability of states and localities to offer critical services and programs across the country. The time for employers to act is now – and to leverage the resources they do have to foster a sense of rejuvenation to proactively retain current public sector employees and recruit a talented, diverse, mission-driven workforce of the future.
For further research on public sector workforce, retirement, or health and wellness, visit https://mission-sq.org/researchinstitute.