Nationally recognized experts and practitioners gathered in Washington, DC, at the Future of Retirement Summit to examine how demographic, workforce, legal, financial, policy, and political challenges are changing local and state government retirement strategies.

The event was hosted by the Center for State and Local Government Excellence and moderated by Peter Harkness, founder and publisher emeritus of Governing magazine.

Workforce trends found in the Center's annual survey of state and local government human resource professionals were highlighted, including:

• Pay freezes still top the list of workforce changes, with 33 percent of governments reporting them in 2013 compared with 51 percent in 2012.
• Eighteen percent of respondents reported layoffs, down from 28 percent last year.
• Staff development is the top human resources issue this year.

Center president and CEO Elizabeth Kellar noted that 44 states have made significant changes in their pension plans between 2009 and 2012 and that governments in 2013 still report a high rate of change to retirement and health plan benefits: 44 percent of survey respondents said their government made changes to retirement benefits this year, most commonly increasing employee contributions.

Speakers reminded the audience that cutting retirement benefits is not costless and that pension plans must be carefully designed to provide retirement security.  And while the rate of retirements from local and state governments is growing, so, too, is the list of skilled positions that are difficult to fill.

For more information on the summit, visit the Center for State and Local Government Excellence.