Government vacancies have long plagued public sector agencies, undermining their ability to deliver services and fulfill their mission. But the challenge is growing more acute. A January 2025 survey by the Center for Digital Government (CDG) found that 73% of local government leaders in finance and human resources say prolonged staff vacancies are directly impacting service delivery.
The message is clear: public sector hiring is broken, and traditional approaches are no longer working.
“Governments have got to break this cycle,” says Barry Condrey, CDG Senior Fellow and former CIO for Chesterfield County, Virginia.
The numbers paint a stark picture. Nearly half of respondents said it takes more than three months to fill an open position, with the cost of recruitment—including staff time, overtime, and temporary hires—placing a significant strain on resources. Beyond dollars, vacancies impact employee morale, increase workloads, and ultimately harm constituent service.
The Compensation Gap
One of the biggest obstacles to government hiring is compensation. Public agencies are struggling to compete with private sector employers for talent, and outdated salary benchmarks are a major factor. Many agencies rely on compensation data that’s one, two, or even three years old—far from sufficient in today’s fast-moving labor market.
“It’s not realistic to operate from that,” says Michael Fryke, CEO of TrueComp.
Without real-time, localized compensation data, public employers enter labor negotiations and hiring efforts at a disadvantage. Even when agencies try to conduct regular salary surveys, data lags of six to nine months mean they’re still working with stale information. This not only hampers decision-making but can also result in uncompetitive job postings that sit unfilled for months.
A Call for Change
To overcome this, government leaders are beginning to rethink their approach to compensation. Fryke and Condrey advocate for several key changes:
Recognize the hidden costs of vacancies: When a role remains open for six to twelve months, the opportunity costs—in staff time, overtime pay, and lost productivity—are significant and often ignored in compensation planning.
Break down HR and finance silos: Traditionally, HR manages benefits and compensation details while finance handles budgeting. But Fryke argues that the optimal model is one where both departments share data and collaborate on strategy.
Invest in reliable, up-to-date data: Not all compensation data is equal. Agencies need real-time insights that are continually updated—not just point-in-time snapshots—to remain competitive in negotiations and hiring.
Include data on government-specific roles and benefits: Public sector workforces include unique roles like public safety, and governments often offer competitive benefits packages. Compensation benchmarking must reflect these realities to be meaningful.
Leverage technology to visualize and use data: New platforms, like those offered by TrueComp, allow agencies to aggregate data from multiple systems and visualize it in ways that support better decision-making.
“Graphically being able to roll that data into a format that helps drive decisions is critical,” Fryke notes.
A Real-World Example
The city of Carson, California, offers a glimpse into what’s possible. Faced with growing compensation complexities and a reliance on spreadsheets, Human Resources Director Joshua Boudreaux turned to TrueComp for help. The platform provided real-time salary data and visualization tools that improved transparency and guided city council conversations.
“Their innovative market compensation tool has allowed my team to treat employee compensation as a real-time video instead of an outdated snapshot in time,” Boudreaux said. “This partnership is all about embracing new ideas and making sure we’re competitive in attracting and keeping amazing talent.”
As more agencies realize the true cost of outdated compensation strategies, the pressure to modernize will only grow. With the right tools and data, public sector organizations can not only fill vacancies faster but also create more equitable and sustainable workforce models.
Source: This article is based on “Using Data to Break the Cycle of Government Vacancies,” a Government Technology Thought Leadership Paper produced by the Government Technology Content Studio with input from TrueComp CEO Michael Fryke and CDG Senior Fellow Barry Condrey.