New Initiative Looks to Strengthen Minnesota’s Public Sector Workforce

Julie Ring first saw the pattern emerging about 10 years ago.

Ring, the executive director of the Association of Minnesota Counties, recently shared with the Minnesota Post some of the talent shortages that counties throughout the state have grappled with over that decade-long span.

Historically, she told the publication, the state’s counties have had trouble filling public sector roles such as corrections officers, 911 dispatchers and social workers, especially those working in child protection.

“They tend to be jobs that are kind of high intensity, really challenging stressful jobs that when, in general, there’s shortages everywhere, those really challenging jobs are even harder to fill,” Ring said.

Ring attributes this lack of applicants for public sector positions throughout the state to a few variables—waves of boomer retirements and an increase in local governments’ responsibilities, for instance. Pay is another critical factor, especially in some greater Minnesota communities, where salaries aren’t typically as high as in the Twin Cities region.

With these ongoing concerns in mind, Ring’s organization has partnered with the Association of Minnesota Counties, the League of Minnesota Cities and the Citizens League are launching a new project designed to “dig deeper and explore the unique challenges and barriers to public service,” according to a Citizens League statement.

With an emphasis on non-elected roles and “people who make our state’s government work,” the initiative will include a series of community engagement meetings across the state of Minnesota, seeking to engage a broad range of stakeholders and residents through individual interviews, small group discussions, larger community meetings and an anonymous online public survey.

Citizens League will also collaborate with local and statewide partner organizations to gather input from city and county leadership, current and former staff who have worked in public service roles, and local business community and economic development representatives.

And, in 2025, the organizations partnering on the project intend to release a final report detailing practical solutions “to strengthen and support a robust public service sector in Minnesota,” according to Citizens League.

“We all live in communities where local government—our city, our county governments —provide all kinds of really essential services. And often, I think those are kind of overlooked or misunderstood until they’re gone,” said Jake Loesch, Citizens League executive director, in a statement.

“I think we really are, through this project, trying to take a look at what we can do to help strengthen public service and get more folks into those great career opportunities.”