Public sector organizations face unique workforce challenges that threaten their ability to fulfill their core missions effectively. The convergence of several critical factors—workforce burnout, rising retirements and aging populations, and outdated technology systems—has made sustaining excellence difficult.
Front-line and deskless workers, who represent the majority of the public sector workforce, are particularly affected as they balance increasing service demands with limited resources. Flexible work arrangements and automation have become crucial for attracting talent and managing complex requirements in regulated environments.
With changing demographics and evolving expectations, traditional approaches to workforce management are proving insufficient. Forward-thinking organizations are recognizing that workforce resilience is not merely about staffing levels but about creating sustainable, adaptable working environments that can withstand ongoing changes in public needs and employee expectations.
This shift requires a comprehensive approach to workforce strategy that addresses the unique complexities of public sector employment while embracing modern solutions for flexibility, compliance, and employee support.
Organizations that successfully navigate these challenges are discovering they can improve operational efficiency and enhance their capacity to attract and retain the talent needed to serve their communities effectively. According to Deloitte, 90% of public sector respondents indicated that focusing on individual teams and workgroups as the best places to cultivate culture, fluidity, agility, and diversity is critically important to their success.
This article will highlight some key challenges impacting the public sector and explain how modern workforce management solutions can help these institutions succeed while realizing significant value.
Workforce Trends Impacting the Public Sector
- Hiring Challenges: The public sector faces challenges attracting top talent. The lack of proper staffing is, in turn, impacting existing staff members’ staff burnout (68%), employee turnover (58%), and increased overtime (50%). To combat this, public sector agencies expand their offerings to employees, increasing pay (57%), offering flexible work schedules (41%), and remote work (34%) to attract new candidates. 57% of job seekers say flexible work hours are the most appealing.
- Demographic Shifts and Succession Planning: 52% of public entities feel their employees are prepared for retirement—54% see the largest wave of anticipated retirement still to come in the next few years. In preparation for this, 32% have or are currently developing a formal succession planning process.
- Workforce IT Blockers Hinder Modernization Efforts: 67% of government leaders say their IT infrastructure is not built to handle emerging technologies, and 95% plan to invest in emerging technologies, including cloud networks (53%), over the next five years. But 69% say they lack the funding to maintain the infrastructure needed for emerging technologies.
- Business Process Automation to Manage Compliance: Public institutions are highly regulated environments with complex union rules, labor laws, legal standards, and protocols that vary by department. This increases compliance risks, especially when rules are monitored manually. By 2026, 60% of government organizations will prioritize business process automation.
How The Right Workforce Management Software Can Help
Employee management software plays a crucial role in delivering the experiences deskless workers expect. However, many organizations still lack the workplace processes and tools to address these needs effectively. Public sector organizations must develop resilient strategies that enhance cost control while supporting modernization. The right workforce management software can help you:
- Adapt to evolving workforce demographics
- Foster skills development
- Streamline operations
- Navigate complex compliance and scheduling requirements
The public sector must prioritize resilient strategies that support greater cost control and support modernization. The right technology solutions can help them adapt with evolving workforce demographics, foster skills development, streamline operations, and navigate complex compliance and labor scheduling requirements.
Public Sector Organizations Realize Significant Benefits With WorkForce Software
Our public sector customers experience significant benefits with WorkForce Software solutions. These benefits are based on aggregated results from value studies across various deployments and organizational maturities.
There are a range of benefits and savings our public sector customers realize with WorkForce Software solutions. WorkForce Software capabilities can create combined benefits of up to:
- $13.5 million (organizations with 5,000 employees)
- $134.8 million (50,000 employees)
- $269.6 million (100,000 employees).
These estimates are based on the aggregated results of value studies with our existing public sector customers across a range of deployments and organizational maturities.
Read the full Public Sector Value Accelerator and see how our customers realize the benefits.
