Hiring challenges characterize the public sector
5 min read
Municipalities face the most difficulty in attracting and winning new hires compared to all other financial sector participants, according to Arizent’s workforce development research.
The difficulty comes as governments seek to attract potential young hires who are skeptical of the public sphere and its potential for career progress in the post-COVID-19 period. This disillusionment has spurred industry professionals to correct common misconceptions about their work.
“There’s this idea that there’s not an advanced skill set needed for government, that city finances are not that sophisticated or complicated, and that simply is not true,” said Eric Mason, chief financial officer for the city of Quincy, Mass.
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Despite the necessity of public finance officials, the
The rise in vacancies has additionally drawn the attention of private sector professionals. Justin Cooper, leader of Orrick’s finance sector, spoke to the importance of the relationship between workers in both public and private industries.
“We desperately want and need strong people in the public sector,” Cooper said. “We don’t want to just make up all the rules and run the whole thing ourselves. We want some push and pull with the public sector,”he said. “It’s not helpful to have those seats vacant; we need public sector partners that we can brainstorm and develop things together. We want those strong people opposite us in government.”
Mason partially credits the false impression of the public finance sector to the idea that governments are lagging behind the private sector in terms of scope.
“Our police department alone spends $41 million a year,” Mason said. “If you had a business in your town that was doing $41 million a year in expenditures, you would call it a pretty significant operation.”
The total 2024 operating budget for New York City, the largest city in the United States, was approximately $116 billion. The sum is comparable to that of Microsoft and Apple, whose 2024 operating budgets reached $130 billion and $62 billion, respectively. As of the first quarter alone, the outstanding amount of money in the U.S. muni market was $4.1 trillion.
“When people hear these figures, they start to realize that everything they touch is local government,” Mason said. “Seventy-five percent of all interactions with governments are at the local level… every road, every pipe, all the underground infrastructure, all your parks.”
Outside of the misconception of municipalities’ scope, the rise of emerging technologies has made the private sector appear more compelling and advanced.
“We’re always behind the private sector, but we’re catching up more, we’re becoming more advanced,” Mason said.
As it stands, less than 10% of municipal officials believe that their workforce is suitably proficient in emerging technology and general computer skills. Yet financial offices are as diverse as the many municipalities they cover.
Megan Kilgore, the auditor of the city of Columbus, Ohio, attributes her office’s success to early modernization efforts. Currently, Columbus
“When I came into office in 2018, we started creating some of the infrastructure that was ultimately necessary to help us work through the pandemic. Across the country, some governments were simply not prepared for the new normal,” Kilgore said. “Fortunately, we had taken some strides to get there. We knew, as a result of technology, that we were poised to likely be able to do so much more outside of the traditional confines of work.”
Another arena in which the public and private sectors are compared is room for advancement, compensation, and work from home privileges. The latter consideration is one which governments are widely unable to compromise on.
Yet it would be wrong to assume that local governments are simply playing catch-up with the private sector.
There are a number of areas in which municipalities far outpace private entities. According to research from the Government Finance Officers Association, entry-level and non-Bachelor’s degree roles are higher earning, there exists significantly greater demographic diversity, and local public finance roles are often stepping-stones to other areas of leadership within government.
In order to address hiring challenges, municipalities are turning towards deep internship and mentorship programs. The city of Quincy relies on what it calls a “deep farming program,” to introduce young people to its financial department. And so far, it has worked.
“A lot of young people don’t think about government when coming out of school, but when it’s exposed to them, they see that they’re a part of something,” said Justin Koch, Quincy’s mayor. “It’s not just about going to work and coming home. You see that you’re involved in the day to day life of a city. Especially if you come from the community and you love the community, you feel like you’re contributing, like you’re being part of something that is much greater than yourself.”
What most distinctly sets the local public finance sector apart is its relationship with politics and governance. Municipal representatives view this characteristic as both a challenge and a strength.
Kilgore’s work as an adjunct professor at Ohio State University has led her to believe that many young people feel out of touch with the political system in general.
“It’s become clear to me that students, especially in the last few years, question the efficacy of government. There’s a lot of overt politicalization, which can really interfere with the local government’s ability to be successful … It’s hard for students who are ideologically very motivated, she said. “You have to have a lot of grit to serve in government, and have to be willing to put up a fight sometimes, and go after and accomplish what you believe is really important.”
Regardless of the challenges, Arizent’s research reveals that the municipal sector experiences the least employee turnover. Kilgore puts this down to the meaningful nature of the work.
“It’s a space for individuals who are really motivated by serving with a little something in their heart. I think the public sector is the best place for one to fulfill their hearts as well as their brains,” she said.
