States as Employers-of-Choice Survey, 2008-2009

The States as Employer-of-Choice was designed to examine the shifting age demographics of the workforces in state governments and help state agencies respond to the changing multigenerational workforce, with data collected from 222 state agencies in 27 states. Two surveys were conducted at two time periods: (1) before the resources and technical assistance were offered to the administrators of state agencies in 2008 (Time 1), and (2) after the completion of the technical assistance program in 2009 (Time 2). The surveys queried respondents about descriptive information on their workplace, the current workforce of the agency, factors outside of the agency that might affect workforce strategy, the perceived culture of the agency, and policies and benefits programs available to employees. Information was gathered from Human Resources managers in public sector state agencies to gauge their understanding of the following: (a) changes in the age demographics of their workforces, (b) steps they have taken to assess how these changes might impact their agencies, and (c) employer-sponsored resources (policies, programs, and benefits) that might help them to recruit, engage, and retain a multi-generational workforce, including older workers. As part of the Time 2 survey, questions on agency response to the economic downturn and assessments of the intervention were included. Demographic information includes the agency's budget, number of employees, average salary, percent of full and part-time workers. The respondent's background information includes their current position in the agency and the number of years with the agency.