Public Sector HR Agencies Likely to Lose 20 Percent of Employees in the Next 5 Years

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By USDR

The International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR) released its 2014 Benchmarking Survey Results on talent management. This year, the areas of focus for the research tackled succession planning, veteran, national guard and military reservist recruitment and retention, as well as millennial recruitment and retention.

A critical finding from the study reveals that 4 out of 10 public sector human resource professionals expect their agencies to lose 20 percent or more of their employees through retirement in the next 5 years. However, only a little more than a quarter (27.4 percent) of the survey respondents has a succession plan in place, creating a major concern for a much talked about “silver tsunami.”

“Succession planning is a major concern of the government workforce,” said IPMA-HR Executive Director Neil Reichenberg. “However, succession planning does not happen overnight for organizations. It is a process. To gain momentum toward succession planning, an agency’s leadership must convey its importance, which is why we are presenting this data on how staffing shortfalls can affect the bottom line.”

According to IPMA-HR’s study, six out of ten public sector organizations (63 percent) say that the older boomers (56-64) and the silent generation (65-73) are the least likely, compared to the other generational cohorts, to leave their jobs voluntarily, unless through retirement.

As the result of this silvering crisis, public sector human resources professionals are slowly, but surely seeking solutions through military and millennial recruitment. For the most part, these two large demographics have been largely untapped.

Today, there are more than 21.2 million military veterans in the U.S. with 11.6 million under the age of 65 who are eligible to return to the civilian workforce, according to the 2013 Census. However, statistics show veterans serving post 9/11 have an unemployment rate averaging more than 2 percent higher than non-veterans even with a federal tax credit program available for hiring veterans.

Millennials are another group that is not largely represented in the government workforce with only 17 percent being represented in the public sector workforce. According to a study conducted in 2014 by Georgetown University’s Center on Education, 40 percent of the unemployed are millennials (4.6 million), the largest proportion of unemployed compared to the other generational cohorts.

IPMA-HR is presenting its full survey findings at the International Training Forum & Expo in Philadelphia on September 23. IPMA-HR representatives will also provide solutions on how to tackle the urgent need for more succession planning within the public sector, as well as how to gain more traction in recruiting veterans and millennials.

A sneak peak infographic of the 2014 Talent Management Benchmarking Study is available here.