Elizabeth Harper

The Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey: The First National Survey of State Health Agency Employees.

This article describes a nationally representative survey of central office employees at state health agencies to characterize key components of the public health workforce.

The Methods Behind PH WINS.

Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text. This article outlines the conceptualization, development, and implementation of the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey, as well as considerations and limitations.

Job Satisfaction: A Critical, Understudied Facet of Workforce Development in Public Health.

This article explores the relationship between general employee satisfaction and specific characteristics of the job and the health agency and provides recommendations regarding what health agencies can do to support recruitment and retention.

Educational Attainment of the Public Health Workforce and Its Implications for Workforce Development.

This study ascertains the levels of educational attainment among state health agency employees as well as the correlates of attainment.

Job Satisfaction and Expected Turnover Among Federal, State, and Local Public Health Practitioners

OBJECTIVES To use data on the governmental public health workforce to examine demographics and elucidate drivers of job satisfaction and intent to leave ones organization. METHODS Using microdata from the 2014 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and 2014 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey, we drew comparisons between federal, state, and local public health staff. We fitted logistic regressions to examine correlates of both job satisfaction and intent to leave ones organization within the coming year. RESULTS Correlates of job satisfaction included pay satisfaction, organizational support, and employee involvement. Approximately 40% of federal, state, and local staff said they were either considering leaving their organization in the next year or were planning to retire by 2020. CONCLUSIONS Public health practitioners largely like their jobs, but many are dissatisfied with their pay and are considering working elsewhere. More should be done to understand the determinants of job satisfaction and how to successfully retain high-quality staff. PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS Public health is at a crossroads. Significant turnover is expected in the coming years. Retention efforts should engage staff across all levels of public health.

State health agency & local health department workforce: Identifying top development needs

Objectives To identify occupations with high-priority workforce development needs at public health departments in the United States. Methods We surveyed 46 state health agencies (SHAs) and 112 local health departments (LHDs). We asked respondents to prioritize workforce needs for 29 occupations and identify whether more positions, more qualified candidates, more competitive salaries for recruitment or retention, or new or different staff skills were needed. Results Forty-one SHAs (89%) and 36 LHDs (32%) participated. The SHAs reported having high-priority workforce needs for epidemiologists and laboratory workers; LHDs for disease intervention specialists, nurses, and administrative support, management, and leadership positions. Overall, the most frequently reported SHA workforce needs were more qualified candidates and more competitive salaries. The LHDs most frequently reported a need for more positions across occupations and more competitive salaries. Workforce priorities for respondents included strengthening epidemiology workforce capacity, adding administrative positions, and improving compensation to recruit and retain qualified employees. Conclusions Strategies for addressing workforce development concerns of health agencies include providing additional training and workforce development resources, and identifying best practices for recruitment and retention of qualified candidates.

Reconciling Supply and Demand for State and Local Public Health Staff in an Era of Retiring Baby Boomers

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study is to reconcile public health workforce supply and demand data to understand whether the expected influx of public health graduates can meet turnover events. METHODS Four large public health workforce data sources were analyzed to establish measures of workforce demand, voluntary separations, and workforce employees likely to retire at state and local health departments. Data were collected in 2014-2016 and analyzed in 2016 and 2017. Potential workforce supply (i.e., candidates with formal public health training) was assessed by analyzing data on public health graduates. Supply and demand data were reconciled to identify potential gaps in the public health workforce. RESULTS At the state and local level, ≅197,000 staff are employed in health departments. This is down more than 50,000 from 2008. In total, ≥65,000 staff will leave their organizations during fiscal years 2016-2020, with ≤100,000 staff leaving if all planned retirements occur by 2020. During 2000-2015, more than 223,000 people received a formal public health degree at some level. More than 25,000 students will receive a public health degree at some level in each year through 2020. CONCLUSIONS Demands for public health staff could possibly be met by the influx of graduates from schools and programs of public health. However, substantial implications exist for transferal of institutional knowledge and ability to recruit and retain the best staff to sufficiently meet demand.