Annual Workforce Survey Sees Public Sector Making Recruitment and Hiring Progress

Each year since 2009, PSHRA^® has partnered with MissionSquare Research Institute and the National Association of State Personnel Executives (NASPE) to conduct an annual survey focusing on recruitment, retention, compensation, organizational culture and priorities, and other top-of-mind issues for public sector HR professionals, along with including data from other surveys in the series.

The 2025 State and Local Government Workforce Survey report provides an overview of the data from this year’s poll, which garnered responses from 382 state and local government HR professionals.

The online survey was conducted among NASPE and PSHRA members from March 4 through April 7, 2025, with the results showing clear progress being made toward hiring for historically tough-to-fill public sector roles and adapting to evolving workforce expectations. That said, this year’s data also reveals that ongoing concerns such as succession planning and workforce diversity could limit long-term improvement if left unchecked.

This year’s research sees recruitment becoming less of a challenge for public sector agencies, continuing a trend from recent years. For example, the percentage of roles deemed “hard to fill” across 19 essential occupations has dropped by at least 10 percentage points since 2022, according to the 2025 workforce survey. In addition, 60% of respondents described their agency as being “very or somewhat successful” in recruiting new generations of employees.

The 2025 workforce survey uncovered a number of trends emerging, in terms of hiring practices and tactics, that are helping to ease recruitment difficulties in the public sector.

For example, hybrid and flexible schedules remain common. Roughly half of all respondents said their agencies offer flexible scheduling. When considering all types of flexible work practices, 67% reported a positive impact on productivity compared to just 4% citing an adverse effect.

The data also suggests a greater need for succession planning. For instance, half of this year’s respondents said succession planning was very important, with 46% saying they expect that the most significant wave of anticipated retirements is still to come. Still, 61% said their organization does not have a succession planning process in place.

“While it is encouraging to see that recruitment has become less challenging, many opportunities still exist for employers to help address their overall workforce shortages,” said Gerald Young, senior researcher at the Institute, in a MissionSquare statement.

“This is particularly important when looking to appeal to job candidates’ motivations, including updating position descriptions and job requirements and enhancing communications with applicants, such as through video campaigns, social media, and mobile apps.