GUEST COLUMN.

In summer of 2024, I wrote a guest column for Barrett and Greene, Inc. about the crisis of recruitment and retention of public service employees, noting that there were over a million government vacancies nationwide, an aging workforce and hiring problems facing state and local governments nationally.  In Maryland, for example, there have been approximately 5,000 vacancies in state government and some agencies have double digit percentage vacancies. In all of this, I posed a question of what we can do to attract and retain the leaders of tomorrow to public service at a time when we need them the most. 

Well things have changed in six months and certainly not for the better. No matter what your political affiliation, the nation has been stunned by the quick work of the Trump Administration and DOGE to use federal executive orders to dismantle entire agencies like USAID and the Federal Executive Boards, root out federal workers associated with policy work that is deemed objectionable, and to fire probationary federal employees. The last group often contains the next generation of bright young public servants.

Additionally, the nation’s pathway programs like the President Management Fellows and internships have ended and in universities some grants have been ordered to cease.  A hidden cost of the cessation of some grant spending is one that particularly afflicts graduate and student assistantships for bright public service interested students who were paid by the grants to assist in the work. In my college, we have lost two grants, and I have looked for other funds to support the students who were impacted. Without this, they may lose their way on the path to get the appropriate experience that can lead their way into government or higher education.

The loss of funding from agencies like USAID or grants associated with other programs and agencies cut (immigration and refugee support) impact non-governmental organizations that receive funds.  The loss of funds that pass through to state and local governments are affected as well.  In the end, agencies in Baltimore for instance like Catholic Relief Services and Global Refuge have initiated large layoffs due to the loss of those funds. In this respect, I am arguing that federal funding losses may make the hiring crises at the local level worse.

This is not meant as a political piece, although many who work in public service education are calling for stronger and louder voices with expressions of these concerns.  My concern here is the same as it was last summer, how do we attract and retain public servants during a crisis of hiring?

In my previous piece, I noted that “both governments and educators need to do more work to engage, listen and learn from each other the needs and opportunities we have to support each other.

I posed questions like what skills are needed in agencies today? What types of programs and education do public servants need to advance?  Are our education programs accessible enough to their employees? Are our career centers accessible and knowledgeable of the sector?  What barriers exist in finding and attracting our students?  Do our students have the professional skills to work in an ever-changing public service?  How can higher education do a better job of letting students know that virtually every problem that they are passionate about has an important role in public service?  Finally, how can public service leaders help educators do a better job of representing public service as the “highest of callings”?

None of these questions and needs have changed and in fact, in some ways the crisis may have worsened in that young professional leaders may fear entering the public sector and/or that their passions to improve the world might be better found in other places or fields.

Current culture, if we are not careful, may decrease trust in government and dim enthusiasm we have been working very hard to increase.  In recent national meetings of public service higher education leaders and professionals, many are reporting on the provision of support to students and employees who are impacted by the federal changes, as well as an increase in outreach and conversations with students about their passions and why and where they should follow them.

This is a time for collaboration between governments and higher education to deepen collaboration and quickly consider messaging on what the landscape and future really looks like.  For example, while some federal agencies are being hit hard others may not be and we may see the mission of those agencies advanced.  Within some agencies, some programs are being dismantled while others in the same agency could be still robust.  And what about the future, one year, two years, five years from now? Will we need many of those employees back as political winds shift and culture changes?

Finally, as I noted at the outset, states and localities were already facing hiring crises of their own.  And here, finally, is some good news: Many are seeing the current political winds blowing against the federal government to be blowing favorably in their direction.  State and local governments, at least in Maryland, have offered support to federal employees and their families who are laid off, are offering pathways to higher education opportunities, and job fairs to attract skilled leaders who are out of work or fleeing that work.  In some important fields, the federal loss is a state and local gain.  One example is Governor Wes Moore’s Maryland State website and campaign to assist federal workers.

Prior to the change in administration, there was much work being done between higher education and government leaders to attract the best to public service.  The current culture and political environment in Washington require immediate action to deepen our partnerships in helping future leaders see government as a place for their dream career, to pivot to attract federal employees to state and local jobs, and to ensure that existing employees can move forward in their education and training to continue to improve that work.

We need to make every effort possible not to lose them.  Top notch skilled leaders are needed now more than ever and we must do everything possible to help them find and stay in public service. One step in the right direction is to collect and share efforts universities and government are taking right now to attract those leaders. Let’s share.

The contents of this Guest Column are those of the author, and not necessarily Barrett and Greene, Inc.  

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