A Moment of Crisis and Opportunity
America stands at a government workforce crossroads. As the size and scope of the federal government decreases, tens of thousands of public servants with deep expertise are seeking new pathways to apply their talents and commitment to service. This represents a once-in-a-generation chance for local governments to recruit skilled professionals who can strengthen community services at a time when they’re needed most.
The magnitude of this moment is remarkable. At Work for America, we launched Civic Match to help campaign staff and federal workers typically displaced during administration transitions in public service connect with high-impact local government jobs. Within months, the program exploded in scale and scope. As of fall 2025, Civic Match operates in more than 250 cities across 48 states, engaging more than 11,000 job seekers and 1,000 government hiring managers.
While this influx of talent presents an extraordinary opportunity, state and local governments are already grappling with roughly half a million vacancies and longstanding recruitment challenges that now must be addressed simultaneously. Meanwhile, the retirement of the Baby Boomer generation, combined with shifting career preferences among younger workers, has accelerated critical staffing gaps across the public sector.
If local governments are to serve as the frontlines of service delivery and adapt to changes at the federal level, they need immediate, practical solutions to their staffing crisis.
To better understand these obstacles and identify effective interventions, we conducted in-depth interviews with mayors, city managers, chiefs of staff, and people leaders representing jurisdictions that total approximately 780,000 state and local employees, 53.9 million constituents, and a combined annual budget of $533 billion.
During this research, one public servant shared, “We need to change the narrative on a nationwide level. People look at government and see some form of evil—too big, wasteful, slow, inequitable. Those things can all be true, but there is a core piece of government which is a net good thing and can make you feel really good about contributing to your community.”
These insights sum up the contradictory challenge local governments face today—the public’s perception of government is often marred by negative stereotypes, yet its services are indispensable. From ensuring clean water and safe roads to driving economic development, government work is the backbone of our communities.
What We’re Up Against
One in eight U.S. jobs is in state and local government, representing 20.3 million Americans.1 As retirement-age employees exit the workforce en masse, those who remain are burdened with increasingly unsustainable workloads, leading to burnout and even more vacancies. The numbers paint a stark picture: with less than 7% of full-time civil service workers under the age of 30 (compared to 20% of the overall workforce) and one-third of government workers eligible to retire this year, it’s clear the public sector is hurtling down an unsustainable path.2 The results are real—and really serious:
It’s about public safety.
In cities like Oakland, Kansas City, Dallas, Boston, and others, we’ve seen lengthy 9-1-1 hold times, with some emergency calls not getting picked up at all.
It’s about public health.
Jurisdictions from Texas to D.C. to New Hampshire have been forced into boil advisories, sometimes with just one employee managing an entire water and sewer department.
It’s about financial stability.
Dozens of municipalities have faced financial reporting delays due to staffing shortages, with some even receiving credit rating downgrades as a result. In Marion, Ohio, such a downgrade prevented the financing of a new emergency services facility the community desperately needed.
Americans feel these impacts nationwide, driving a self-perpetuating narrative of inefficient government, failing democracy, and communities left behind. This not only makes it more difficult to recruit new employees into public sector roles but also erodes public faith that government can provide for them at all.
5 Key Obstacles to Attracting and Retaining Top Talent
Our conversations revealed several recurring challenges that impede the effective recruitment, hiring, and retention of public-sector talent.
1. Lack of Recruitment Infrastructure
“My wife works in the private sector, and when she needs to hire, she calls their internal recruiters, who give her candidates and schedule the interviews for her. An internal recruiter?! Government doesn’t have that.”
Unlike the private sector, many government agencies lack a standardized approach to recruitment. Hiring managers often start from scratch, writing job descriptions and figuring out where to post them without centralized guidance.
2. Limited Marketing and Brand Identity
“People don’t know what government does—particularly the younger generation. We don’t have a strong employment brand.”
Government agencies are struggling to present themselves as desirable employers at a time when competition for attention is fierce. Having a strong employer brand would help government stand out and convey the unique benefits of public service.
3. Struggle to Convey the Full Value Proposition
“We have barely scratched the surface of being able to crosswalk how benefits work and explain the value of these jobs. We need to help people better understand what it means to be in government. We say ‘MM17’ and offer them a ‘Step 1’—we don’t tell them what that means.”
Public sector compensation often lags behind the private sector, particularly for technical roles. However, government jobs offer significant benefits like retirement plans, job security, and work-life balance. These advantages need to be better communicated to potential candidates.
4. Inflexibility
“There has been a massive surge in the way people value themselves and their time and how they want to work, and that’s making it hard to hire.”
The demand for remote and flexible work arrangements has skyrocketed, especially among younger workers. Yet, many government roles require in-person presence, making it difficult to meet these expectations. There’s a need for data to support flexible work arrangements where possible.
5. Civil Service Constraints
“You hear about the civil service exam because you know someone who has done it, and they whisper you the tips and tricks to go through the process. Cops tend to have parents who were cops. We need to place a big focus on reaching more people.”
The civil service system, while merit-based, is often slow and cumbersome, leading to prolonged delays in hiring. Reforming these processes to be more efficient and communicating them appropriately could make government jobs more accessible and appealing.
Creative Solutions Already in Action
The challenges are substantial, but it’s not all doom and gloom. Many cities and states have already implemented creative solutions that—taken together—begin to shape a broader framework for public sector recruitment and hiring.
1. Centralizing Recruitment Efforts: Several agencies have centralized their recruitment and hiring functions, often under a dedicated chief people officer or other senior talent leaders. This approach allows for better data tracking, resource allocation, and the adoption of best practices from the private sector.
2. Developing an “Employer of Choice” Brand: Some governments are working to position themselves as the “employer of choice” in their region by clearly communicating the benefits of public sector work. This includes conducting compensation studies and executing local recruitment campaigns that express the total value proposition of government careers.
3. Revising Job Narratives: Many are making job descriptions more transparent about salaries, benefits, and the day-to-day realities of the roles. User research is helping to create clear, compelling narratives that attract qualified candidates.
4. Expanding Total Rewards: Some governments are enhancing benefits and rewards by front-loading vacation time, offering signing bonuses, and increasing parental leave. These initiatives help make public sector jobs more competitive.
5. Same-Day Hiring Initiatives: Cities are finding success with same-day hiring events, particularly for roles like 9-1-1 call takers. These events streamline the process, allowing candidates to apply, interview, and receive job offers on the spot.
Gaps and Opportunities for Further Exploration
Drawing from the critical needs and creative solutions expressed by local leaders, we’ve pinpointed several areas where organizations like Work for America and others could step in to help:
1. Build a Strong, Supportive Ecosystem
“This is the thing—the true pressing problem and one that feels like there aren’t enough players in the space solving. It’s a space where I feel like I don’t have peers and there isn’t an ecosystem.”
A robust field of nonprofit organizations is already making significant strides in addressing these challenges with valuable resources and expertise to support governments. One great example is the U.S. Digital Response’s Talent Toolkit, which “is an invaluable resource for government leaders and hiring managers aiming to build digital capacity, providing best practices, practical examples, and downloadable templates to attract and nurture technologists,” according to Keith Wilson, USDR talent engagement manager.
The next step is to unite these organizations into a cohesive and powerful ecosystem. By coordinating efforts and pooling knowledge, we can create a trusted hub for best practices and innovative solutions. This community would empower leaders and advisors to collaborate more effectively, share resources, and address challenges more swiftly.
Additionally, it would enhance the ability of leaders within government to advocate for critical interventions and drive meaningful change.
2. Enhance Recruitment and Hiring
“We want help, but what sometimes happens is that people come in wanting to help, and they provide white papers to the two people doing all this work. What we need are brass-tacks practical resources.”
Instead of relying on internal employees to squeeze recruitment into the sidelines of their official duties, government hiring teams need free and affordable recruitment resources tailored to their unique needs. The U.S. Marine Corps, for instance, has mastered recruitment with a gold-standard system that emphasizes mission, pride, and clear pathways to success. These principles can be adapted for civil service with impressive results.
Tools like this can help make the process more efficient and streamlined while still maintaining merit-based principles—and giving back valuable time to managers and leadership.
3. Improve Communications and Branding
“We’ve made a concerted effort from a communications and marketing perspective to help people better understand the value proposition of public service. Public service is not just lobbying for policy—it’s service delivery for the continuity of a consistent, safe, healthy life. It’s water and wastewater, roads, economic development. It’s jobs.”
We need to showcase the true value of public sector careers and reach more people. This could include creating marketing campaigns tailored to localities, developing plain language job description templates, and launching programs to highlight the benefits and mission-driven nature of public sector work. Eventually, there will be a need for a dedicated tech platform to showcase job opportunities nationwide and enhance the search engine optimization of local job boards to make them more accessible to job seekers.
Ultimately, these efforts could contribute to a national campaign aimed at changing the narrative around government jobs and inspiring all Americans to pursue careers in the public sector.
Where We Go from Here
Government serves every single person in every corner of this country. It’s the greatest source of open jobs in every market. It’s up to us to make these roles available, accessible, and attractive. As federal priorities shift, cities and counties have a chance to step up in unprecedented ways—but only if they can find the talent to help them do so.
Work for America—alongside scores of other like-minded leaders and initiatives—will continue to partner with research organizations and stakeholders to build momentum for solving these challenges, develop hands-on resources for public sector leaders, and use powerful storytelling to inspire more Americans to build careers in public service.
Reimagining public sector hiring will enhance government capacity and service delivery, ensuring our communities remain safe, healthy, and prosperous. The stakes may be high, but the people on the ground are ready. It’s time to get to work.
CAITLIN LEWIS is the executive director of Work for America, a nonprofit organization providing hands-on support and resources to local governments, ensuring they can recruit and retain the next wave of public servants
ENDNOTES AND RESOURCES
1 U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics
2 Partnership for Public Service
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