November 2026
This year’s State and Local Government Workforce Survey finds a higher percentage of state government agencies offering flexible work options than their local government counterparts.
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 related data from prior surveys in the series.
The 2026 State and Local Government Workforce Survey report provides an overview of data from this year’s poll, which garnered responses from more than 600 state and local government HR professionals. (Of the total respondents, 77% were from local government, 15% from state government agencies, and 9% came from special districts—utilities, schools or parks, for instance.)
When asked what flexible work practices their agency offered to employees in 2025, the most common responses were flexible schedules (53%), regular hybrid scheduling (50%) and flexible work hours (41%).
The State and Local Government Workforce Survey has collected flexible work practices data since 2016. Over that time, a higher percentage of states than local governments have offered flexible work options.
The most recent survey, for example, found 68% of state agencies offering regular hybrid scheduling, compared to 48% of local government organizations reporting the same. Thirty-four percent of state agencies indicated they offer regular full-time remote work, versus just 11% of local government entities.
While noting that the reasoning behind offering flexible work policies is “beyond the survey’s scope,” MissionSquare Senior Researcher Gerald Young sees various circumstances potentially at play.
“The differing sizes of the workforces in state versus local governments may be one factor affecting these policies,” said Young, “as may be the public’s preference to take care of some government business in person, such as in some smaller communities.”
