The Center for State and Local Government Excellence has found new researching detailing the potential challenges facing state and local governments in managing public sector employees in 2019. SLGE said Thursday that some efforts from top government officials in the coming year should focus on issues related to retirement benefit programs, personnel recruitment and retention, workforce development, financial security, and retirement systems and policies.
The report also states that some officials have begun implementing the strategies to address the challenges.
SLGE said future efforts across state and local governments should include:
- Further promotion of retirement benefit programs to attract new employees
- Developing a “Workforce of the Future†through updated HR policies and processes, employee engagement efforts, use of technology and external communications
- Proper management of government staff sharing across jurisdictional boundaries
- Helping employees get financial security through innovative approaches, such as automatic enrollment
- Updated post-retirement employment policies to provide workforce management flexibility and retirement system actuarial soundness
- Reviewing all retirement systems to provide employee-specific pensions
SLGE noted that recruitment and retention of qualified personnel “will continue to be a challenge for state and local governments.†The center said positions that could be difficult to fill next year include police, engineering, information technology, emergency dispatch, accounting and skilled trade positions.
SLGE helps the public sector in decision making by providing information on leading practices, public retirement plans, health and wellness benefits, workforce demographics and skill set needs and labor force development.