Weekly briefing: Four ways to get millennials into government

Top Stories

Government jobs aren’t working for millennials — here are four ways to change that. Slow-moving hiring and outdated management tactics stop the public sector from attracting and retaining young people. From flexible hiring to creative marketing, here’s how to get the next generation into government work.
(Apolitical)

Banning refugees from having jobs hurts, not helps, local workers. Millions of migrants are denied access to the labour market because governments worry they will take jobs from citizens and drive down wages. But when refugees integrate successfully, it helps government's bottom line.
(Apolitical)

Suicide among Americans rose 28% over 15 years — here’s how Colorado is turning the tide. Prevention focuses on demographic-specific interventions: the state mines data to find out who is most at risk, from working-age men to students, and targets them with evidence-based solutions.
(Apolitical)

Top Writing From Our Members

How (not) to run an innovation lab: three mistakes to avoid. Most government labs that fail do so for surprisingly obvious reasons: they don’t focus on delivery, hire the wrong people or fall victim to organisational rules. Here’s how to avoid the easy pitfalls.
(Benjamin Seibel, Technologiestiftung Berlin)

These 10 policy steps could give children back the freedom to play. There’s growing public concern that sedentary, screen-based entertainment has replaced real-world play for children. From pedestrianising streets to building adventure playgrounds, these solutions can change behaviour.
(Adrian Voce, The European Network for Child Friendly Cities)

Governance and Citizen Engagement

These will be the in-demand government jobs of 2025. Technology and changing demographics are pushing the public sector to hire more efficiently. From criminal reduction officer to talent cloud coordinator, these are the government jobs of the future.
(Deloitte)

South Africa is using a chat app modelled after Whatsapp to engage citizens. Users can rate and review hospitals, clinics, police and other public services. The country’s 10,000-plus government officials have access to their feedback and will use the data to drive decision-making.
(Business Report)

London will give extra leave to City Hall staff whose babies are born prematurely. If a parent gives birth to their baby before 37 weeks, they will get paid leave between the day their baby was born and their due date. The mayor hopes other employers will be inspired to adopt the policy.
(BBC)

US cities scrapped Columbus Day to honour the people who really discovered America. At least a dozen cities, from San Francisco to Cincinnati, celebrated Indigenous People’s Day on Monday instead. ‘It’s a relic of an outdated and oversimplified version of history,’ the mayor of Somerville, Massachusetts said.
(CNN)

Health and Ageing

Australia is on track to become the first country to eliminate cervical cancer by 2028. Its success is credited to the country’s national HPV vaccination program for schoolchildren, introduced in 2007. There are currently seven cases of cervical cancer per 100,000 Australian women.
(The Age)

Evolving Cities

Shenzhen, China is the world’s first quiet megacity. It’s thanks to the proliferation of electric vehicles: environmentally friendly buses, bikes, scooters, taxis and dump trucks have taken over the city, cutting urban noise in the 20 million-person metropolis.
(Bloomberg)

A Florida city is investing in homes for gay seniors. Older LGBT+ people are twice as likely to be single and live alone and four times less likely to have children, which exacerbates financial strain. Wilton Manors’ affordable housing project is modelled after initiatives in New York, LA and Chicago.
(Thomson Reuters)

And finally

Indian officials are using Calvin Klein Obsession to sniff out a killer tigress. Forest rangers have tried everything from thermal imagery drones to wild elephants to capture a tiger suspected of killing 13 people. Their last resort: a men’s cologne with the civetone compound, which is scientifically to make big cats complacent.
(The New York Times)