The Exodus Of State And Local Public Health Employees: Separations Started Before And Continued Throughout COVID-19

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Services Research
• Workforce Studies

Background:

• Understanding the state and local governmental public health workforce is crucial for public health promotion and protection.
• The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance and vulnerabilities of this essential workforce.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the intent to leave or retire in 2017 with actual separations through 2021 among public health agency staff.
• To examine factors correlating with separations, including age, region, and prior intent to leave.
• To project the potential impact of continued separation trends on the public health workforce.

Main Methods:

• Utilized pandemic-era data from the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PHWIN) for 2017 and 2021.
• Analyzed employee separations between 2017 and 2021.
• Correlated separations with employee age, region, and stated intent to leave in 2017.

Main Results:

• Nearly half of all state and local public health agency employees separated between 2017 and 2021.
• Separation rates were significantly higher (three-quarters) among staff aged 35 and younger or with shorter tenures.
• Projected trends indicate over 100,000 staff departures by 2025, potentially representing half the workforce.

Conclusions:

• High turnover rates threaten the stability and capacity of the governmental public health workforce.
• Urgent strategies for recruitment and retention are necessary to mitigate future workforce shortages.
• Addressing the exodus of early-career public health professionals is critical for future pandemic preparedness.