An excellent mid-May webinar produced by NEOGOV and provided through the National Association of State Personnel Executives highlights an improving state and local workforce picture, while also pinpointing areas where improvement is needed. Titled “Making Informed Decisions” the webinar provides an “An In Depth look at 2025’s Top Public HR Trends.”

After brutal pandemic-era years of understaffing and application shortages, the news is generally heartening. Over the last year, state and local governments have filled 580,000 positions with job openings decreasing and applications rising for the first time since 2019.

Based on internal and external data analysis and a 2025 survey of more than 1,000 HR professionals in cities, counties and states, the webinar points to the ways that federal government job insecurity has helped boost applications for states and localities.  In the 40 days following inauguration, NEOGOV reports 15 percent more applications came in per state and local jobs compared to the 40 days before. Spikes were particularly big in Maryland with a 29 percent jump; Virginia with a 25 percent increase and Massachusetts with 25 percent,

Despite the improving hiring picture, both recruiting and retention were selected as top HR priorities in NEOGOV’s survey with retention concerns nearly equal to recruiting.

What problems still keep public sector HR directors awake at night? While applications are up, the NEOGOV survey found that 62 percent of agencies still report having trouble finding qualified candidates.  “As anyone in recruiting knows, sourcing these candidates isn’t necessarily a simple task,” said Stefanie Tracey-Calesh, Director of Product Marketing at the company. Governments “need to be more intentional, rethinking how to market open roles, where to source candidates and what the employee experience should look like from day one.”

Reid Walsh, former Deputy Secretary of Human Resources & Management for Pennsylvania and currently Chief Human Resources Officer at NEOGOV,  emphasized the importance of speeding up the hiring process citing figures from the Society For Human Resource Management (SHRM) that in a competitive job market, the best candidates are off the market within 10 days.”

The webinar provides many suggestions on ways that state and local governments can improve their recruitment and hiring approach.

These include:

• Building a strong employer brand.

  
  

• Emphasizing job security and stability, as a steadying counterpoint to the current upheaval in the federal government.

   

• Promoting continued availability of defined benefit pension systems, work flexibility, and chances for career growth.

   

• Utilizing job platforms that will reach federal workers

   

• Partnering with professional associations

   

• Leveraging data and employing artificial intelligence in the recruitment/hiring process.

As the survey showed, retention is also a top priority for HR directors and the webinar emphasizes the importance of personalized training and career development systems, with attention to career planning and the communication of future job opportunities within each individual government.

Citing survey results, Tracey-Calash noted that only 26 percent of agencies prioritize succession planning, “which means that many employees don’t see a clear path for growth.” She noted that burnout is still a problem, given heavy workloads and “a lack of wellbeing initiatives” and that a focus on employee wellness programs; work flexibility and employee recognition and wellness programs were key to creating a positive employee experience that could diminish turnover.

Additional advice from the two webinar speakers focused on the importance of structured onboarding programs that create an atmosphere that can contribute to better retention. They also focused on the ways to use artificial intelligence to improve workforce planning, and match training needs to employees based on performance reviews. As Walsh said, that helps to pinpoint skill gaps, look at promotion readiness and get personalized attention “that’s truly based on them to further their career and retain stickiness for you as an employer.”

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