The 2025 State and Local Government Workforce Survey report shows clear progress being made toward hiring for historically tough-to-fill public sector roles, as agencies adapt to evolving workforce expectations.
ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 20, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Each year since 2009, the Public Sector HR Association (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 is now available, and 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, as agencies adapt to evolving workforce expectations. That said, this year's data also reveals that significant challenges still exist, with regard to recruitment and retention, as well as succession planning, for instance.
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.
"The 2025 State and Local Workforce Report highlights the essential need for public employers to adapt to ever-evolving workforce needs," said Cara Woodson Welch, PSHRA CEO.
"By prioritizing in-depth mental health support, flexible work options, and promoting succession planning, we can develop a stronger, more resilient public sector workforce."
Media Contact
Mark McGraw, PSHRA, 1 703.535.5258, [email protected], www.pshra.org
SOURCE PSHRA
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