HARRISBURG, PA – Pennsylvania is actively working to address state government staffing shortages by streamlining its hiring processes and enhancing employee benefits, officials announced today. The state recently lowered the minimum age for correctional officers to 18, from a previous requirement of 21, to capture applicants entering the workforce directly after high school.
“Folks who are doing these jobs are applying after high school,and we were losing them to other industries and other fields,as they weren’t going to sit around and wait for three years to get a job wiht the state,” said an unnamed state official.
The state is also re-evaluating hiring standards, considering whether an emphasis on “perfect” candidates is hindering recruitment. A key focus has been reducing the time it takes to hire, successfully trimming the average from 90 days to 54 days.
Changes contributing to this reduction include bypassing extensive human resources application reviews for non-civil service positions, instead directing applications immediately to hiring agencies. Pennsylvania has also increased the use of phone interviews and begun issuing conditional job offers prior to completing background checks and reference verification. The state has eliminated mandatory reference checks, noting the difficulty in obtaining timely responses and questioning their value.
“We were waiting too long… you call and ask for a proposal, [but]… they may not get back to you for whatever reason,” said another state official. “And we’re not even making it a requirement. How many people do you know that really put [down] a recommendation that’s going to be bad?”
These efforts have yielded positive results, with the state’s employment vacancy rate declining from 10 percent during the pandemic to 7 percent currently.
Beyond recruitment, Pennsylvania is focused on employee retention. New initiatives include emphasizing career advancement opportunities and the importance of public service, as well as tangible benefits improvements. These include extending parental leave by two weeks and allowing employees to add family members to their medical coverage sooner.
