Hiring Now Less Challenging for Gov’t HR Pros

WASHINGTON – Employee recruitment has become less challenging, in the past year, according to the findings of a new workforce survey of state and local government HR executives.

Now in its 16th year, the new research report, “2025 State and Local Government Workforce Survey Results,” takes a comprehensive look at current state and local recruitment, retention, benefits, and related human resources practices, as well as a wider view of how those practices have trended over time.

MissionSquare Research Institute released the findings from its latest workforce survey, an annual collaboration with the Public Sector HR Association (PSHRA) and the National Association of State Personnel Executives (NASPE).

The research uncovered that recruitment became less challenging in 2024 and saw continued improvement in 2025. Across 19 key occupations, the share of survey respondents who considered them “hard to fill,” dropped by 10 percentage points or more since 2022.

“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. “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.”

New trends arose this year regarding hiring practices and tactics to support recruitment, leading to the overall easing of recruitment difficulties.

Specifically, the survey found:
·      Broad but not comprehensive success in hiring a new generation of workers. Overall, 60% of governments reported being very or somewhat successful in recruiting new generations of employees.

·      Hybrid and flexible schedules remain common. Approximately half of all respondents reported policies providing 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.

·      There is a greater need for succession planning. With 46% expecting that the most significant wave of anticipated retirements is still to come, half (50%) of governments rated succession planning as very important. However, 61% reported not having a succession planning process in place.

A shift in employer-focused priorities. Specific workforce issues have been deemed less significant in 2025, with fewer governments reporting competitive compensation as one of their critical priorities (70% in 2025 compared to 79% in 2024). This is potentially a reaction to salary increases instituted in preceding years. Rating workforce diversity, equity, and inclusion as very important declined even further, down to 28% in 2025 compared to 41% in 2024.

Additional questions added to this year’s survey shed light on emerging trends and areas where respondents have seen successes or potential opportunities when it comes to their recruiting and hiring practices, including:
·      Successful recruitment strategies show that 9% report using skills assessments (as an alternative to a degree requirement), and 12% of respondents front-load benefits for newly hired employees to have quicker access to paid leave.
·      Within the application process, 47% omit questions on salary history, and 20% provide interview accommodations for neurodiverse job candidates.
·      While 52% do not provide paid family leave, 39% offer 4 weeks or more.
·      Only 5% provide paid leave for employees to attend college classes.

The survey was conducted among 382 NASPE and PSHRA members March 4-April 7, 2025.