Policy & Practice | Summer 2025

tate and local agencies routinely struggle to find top talent. 1 For human services agencies, hard to fill, stressful roles often drive high levels of turnover and vacancies. Skill gaps abound, and departments are often forced to leave positions open or scale back initiatives. But the labor market is shifting. With federal agencies reducing their workforces, seasoned federal employees are seeking new high-impact and mission-driven job opportunities. 2 State and local governments across the country are moving to take advan tage, using job portals, advertisements, and other means to highlight available positions at state agencies. 3,4 Efforts are nationwide, considering 80 percent of the 2.4 million federal civilian employees work outside the Washington, D.C./Maryland/Virginia region. 5 Kentucky launched a website with employ ment resources aimed at helping displaced federal employees find work in the Commonwealth. 6 Wisconsin announced a new online portal and virtual job fairs for federal workers. 7 Pennsylvania created a site listing open positions and is seeking experi enced federal employees to bring their expertise to state government roles. 8 Bolstering the End-to-End Talent Experience Of course, it’s not enough for a state or local agency to post a social media link to a job portal. There are good reasons why federal workers, even those who live nearby, might not first look to a second career in public service. In many regions, state employees’ pay scale is comparatively low, and the hiring process can be excruciatingly slow. To be competitive in both attracting and retaining top talent, states and localities need to think beyond getting people in the door. The entire talent experience is important, and human resources (HR) departments should address the process holistically and intention ally. For human services agencies, making that happen requires closely evaluating each stage of the talent experience: acquisition, onboarding, and training and operations. Attracting and Retaining High-Caliber Candidates By Will Arnold, Michael J. Walsh, Abigail McNeal, and Tiffany Dovey Fishman Improving Workforce Experience S

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