NEOGOV Blog

Our 2021 Diversity Report highlighted important public sector recruitment data from January 2019 to December 2020, with a focus on the discrepancies between Black female and White male candidates.  

Attracting enough qualified applicants to public sector positions can be challenging. While many applicants are drawn by the prospect of doing meaningful work and supporting their communities, public sector roles are often overlooked by applicants in search of perks the private sector can offer.

In addition to health concerns, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused an upheaval of the public sector job market that has left many workers uncertain about their future. With massive layoffs and a hiring freeze, the US unemployment rate increased to 14.4% in April, the highest since World War II. Learn more about the data behind recruiting in a pandemic below.

According to our survey of 23,310 job seekers between April and June of 2020, 51% reported their job status had changed as a result of the pandemic. The top three reasons that caused a job status change were involuntary, including being laid off (32%), reduced working hours (25%), and being furloughed (18%).

Hiring in the public sector today is becoming increasingly difficult, as high retirement numbers are causing jobs to open up a rate the public sector can’t keep up with and the near-record low unemployment rate making competition for talent tough. One way to lessen the current talent gap is to grab job seeker attention through engaging job promotions.

EL SEGUNDO, CA - NEOGOV, a market leader in public sector human resources software, announces the release of the 2019 Job Seeker Report, a research study to understand the state of public sector hiring and tips for how to attract high-quality candidates.

The government is in a hiring crisis, and action is needed. As retirees leave the workforce in droves and the public sector lacks the attractiveness of the private sector, an applicant shortage has developed. If this is not rectified, the quality of service provided to citizens will be negatively impacted.

ARLINGTON, Va; March 25, 2019 – U.S. state governments face growing challenges attracting, building and retaining critically important talent and workforce skills, according to new research from the National Association of State Chief Administrators (NASCA) in collaboration with Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and NEOGOV.

Local government budgets are often stretched to their limits and can be inflexible. These budgetary constraints, coupled with an ever-growing demand for efficiency and thoroughness, require local government leaders to give organizations new ways to do more with less.

Directing staff members to make human resources processes and systems more efficient does more than reduce direct HR expenses. HR efficiencies save money at all levels of an organization, and a significant return on investment can be achieved through such efforts as centralized information, automated tasks, and modernized technology.

Here are five ways your organization can save money once you’ve given human resources the tools it needs to be more efficient.

It’s frustrating when your organization’s job openings don’t attract enough applicants, or worse, when no one qualified applies at all. Or perhaps you’ve been told to hire someone new immediately, meaning your usual thoughtful recruitment process is out the window.

You may already have an easily accessible pool of qualified candidates. The secret is to take a look at people who previously applied for positions at your organization. Learn more about this untapped talent pool below.