With ageing governments around the world determined to digitise and a rapidly growing technical skills gap, the public service needs to prioritise recruiting young digital talent. Only 1% of American public servants surveyed by Deloitte, for example, believe their organisation uses best practices for attracting talent.

Demand for digital workers is high in all sectors, and government often finds it tough to compete. In the US, only 2.3% of recent college graduates wanted to work in the federal government, and Millennials only stay in government jobs for an average of 3.8 years.

Yet if governments are to seize the benefits of GovTech and digital innovation, recruiting and retaining young talent must be a priority. Here are five ways governments around the world are working to get more young people into their teams.

Emphasise opportunities for social impact

Younger generations increasingly value social impact when considering job opportunities, but over 40% of American college graduates believe the nonprofit sector beats the public sector as a place to make a positive difference in society, and about 40% of young people in the UK don’t trust their government leaders.

It is critical for government agencies to frame their work around their mission in job postings, campaigns and recruitment efforts.

“In all our recruiting conversations, the thing that comes up the most is the mission — the idea to help Canadians with their everyday lives and make it better for them,” said Andrea Gilbrook, Head of Talent at the Canadian Digital Service.

“It just resonates — the idea of being able to come in and have an impact on something your parents know about.”

GovTech Singapore also relies on the purpose-driven nature of its work to attract young talent.

“We create opportunities for the tech leads to showcase what kind of projects we work on in GovTech and how we serve and enhance the lives of our citizens,” said Evangeline Chua, Chief People Officer in GovTech Singapore. “Many younger generations are actually attracted by our mission and this value proposition.”

Invest in the long-term development of young hires

While government may not be able to outcompete the private sector in terms of salary, it can invest in young hires’ development and learning.

Surveys from the US group Young Government Leaders show that young people in the workforce value challenging and meaningful assignments and managers that care about their professional development.

According to LinkedIn’s Talent Blog, Hawaii’s former CIO Todd Nacapuy transformed the state’s digitisation and innovation processes in part by helping young public servants plan the rest of their careers, identifying areas for development, accessing learning opportunities outside the state and organising a “happiness university” that taught about work-life balance and fulfillment.

GovTech Singapore also has a Tech Mentorship Program connecting their engineers with Silicon Valley engineers. Additionally, the Digital Technology Attachment Program supports public servants in having stints in the private sector to learn and bring findings back to their teams.

“We have been relatively creative in terms of talent development and retention of our GovTechies,” Chua said, “But at the same time, as a government agency,we do have a role to play to develop talent for the industry as well.”

Develop the perception that government does innovative, cutting edge work

“Even for me, before I joined the public sector, I had this concern that working in the public sector means that I have to deal with bureaucracy,” Chua said.

Young people don’t associate the innovation, but governments can change this perception by showcasing cutting edge work and dedication to digital development.

Innovation competitions, hackathons and conferences can make clear to young people that government invites new ideas.

One example is Taiwan’s Presidential Hackathon, which strives to “assemble the wisdom of crowds across government, industry, and private and public sectors” to exchange data and ideas and improve government services.

Teams in both government and the private sector work on solutions for topics including open governance and sustainability, and citizens vote on the best ideas.

Even if a government cannot organise these events, it’s a good idea to show up beside trailblazers in the private sector and demonstrate government’s dedication to innovation and digitisation.

“It’s really about actually getting in front of students — going to tech events and talking to students where they’re at, whether it’s a Hackathon or a student competition, robotics competition, something where students are and don’t really expect to see us,” Gilbrook said.

Increase the accessibility of positions and hiring information

Young people who may be interested in public service often don’t understand how to find or apply for government positions, or they don’t think of government as an employer for digital roles.

“I think it’s just not really on the map in general,” Gilbrook said. “If you’re a hotshot developer,...if you want to work on leading edge tech, you might not think of government.”

“Getting us in front of those people” and ensuring people know about the opportunities available in the public service is, she said, “half the battle.”

Online job postings will reach more young people by being mobile-optimised and advertised on social media, as 73 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds found their last job through a social network. Departments can also partner with universities to create a pipeline into government.

Governments are also experimenting with relying on skills requirements rather than credential requirements.

For example, the Canadian government is now using the Talent Cloud, a government hiring platform for digital “gig” positions. The Talent Cloud validates applicants’ skills by evaluating samples of work and micro-references regardless of how those skills were attained.

Accelerate the hiring process and take advantage of internships

Many students in university or graduate school apply for jobs and receive offers from the private sector months before they graduate, and they are expected to make decisions accordingly. Government needs to hire at a similar pace and proactively recruit at a similar timeline to compete.

Singapore’s Smart Nation Scholarship covers tuition and living expenses for its recipients studying in STEM programs in return for a four to six year service commitment working in the public sector after their graduation. Now in its second year, it has already received three times more applications than it did the year before.

Several governments also have fellowship programs that put young people on a fast track to digital leadership. The public sector can also take advantage of internships and fellowships and make it easy to convert those candidates into full-time employees. These interns can be used as representatives in their schools and provide a younger, relatable face in additional recruitment efforts. — Jenna Bao

Want to know more about GovTech and how it’s changing government - read more here.

(Picture Credit: Unsplash)

This article has been updated to use the correct name of the Canadian Digital Service.