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Building Tomorrow’s Local Government Workforce A roundtable discussion to address workforce sustainability, leadership succession and future talent attraction.

“For people who work in local government, our story is one of purpose, impact and opportunity. This report shows how and why that narrative matters when it comes to attracting and retaining the people we need, now and for the future.”

Sandra Farquharson President, PPMA (The Public Services People Managers Association)

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Executive Summary Local government stands at a critical point. Aside from the many changes and uncertainty facing the sector, councils have had growing workforce sustainability challenges driven by an ageing employee population, increased leadership turnover, recruitment difficulties and heightened competition for talent. At the same time, younger generations often have limited awareness of the breadth, purpose and career opportunities available within local government. Commercial Services Group research, conducted September 2025, highlighted that 1 in 3 had never considered a career in local government and 50% were unaware of the breadth of careers available. This is despite the challenges facing young people in finding employment. (Alan Milburn, Young people and work: interim report May 2026). There is a perfect storm, combining demographic change, long-term financial pressures and evolving workforce expectations presenting a significant strategic risk. Without action, councils could face widening skills gaps, weakened leadership pipelines and reduced organisational capacity to deliver essential services. However, the sector also possesses significant strengths. Local government offers meaningful, purposedriven careers, diverse professional opportunities, flexible career progression and a direct connection to community impact. The challenge is not the proposition itself, but how effectively it is communicated, structured and supported. This paper explores the key themes emerging from a roundtable co-hosted with the PPMA on future workforce models and outlines practical recommendations to help councils attract, develop and retain the workforce needed for the future.

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The workforce sustainability challenge A N AG E I NG WO R K FO RC E One of the most pressing concerns facing local government is workforce demographics. Discussion participants highlighted that fewer than 5% of employees are under the age of 25, while a substantial proportion of the workforce is aged between 40 and 60 (LGA). This imbalance creates several risks: • Loss of institutional knowledge through retirement • Growing succession planning challenges • Increasing competition for skilled professionals • Reduced diversity of perspectives and experiences • Difficulty maintaining sustainable leadership pipelines. Without proactive intervention, councils risk facing significant capability gaps as experienced employees leave the sector.

“We don’t always have the best salaries, but we do it for a different reason.”

UNDERSTA ND I N G T H E N E XT GENE RAT I ON WO R K FO RC E PURP OS E M AT T E R S M O R E THAN EV E R

AWA R ENESS R EM A I NS LOW A recurring theme was the lack of awareness among young people regarding careers in local government. Many students, graduates and early-career professionals simply do not understand the variety of roles available.

Younger generations increasingly seek careers that provide meaning, social value and impact. Participants agreed that local government is uniquely positioned to meet these expectations through its direct contribution to communities and public services.

“We need to know what attraction looks like, not from our perspective, but from young people’s perspective.”

Unlike many sectors, local government offers employees the opportunity to: • Improve residents’ lives • Influence local communities • Deliver social value • Support vulnerable populations • Contribute to long-term place-based outcomes.

When opportunities exist across so many areas how do councils communicate the breadth of roles available? Those in the sector know councils can offer everything from finance and data to digital, communications and project management and legal services as well as the more well-known roles in social care and bins! Despite this diversity, public sector careers often remain largely invisible within mainstream career conversations.

Yet many potential candidates remain unaware of these benefits. © Commercial Services Group

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Addressing the perception gap

The young people attending our roundtable added some interesting interpretations to the findings particularly around flexible working. It means different things to people at different stages in their lives. What is hugely beneficial to someone with children or who is a carer can be limiting to someone just starting out in their career.

THE S ECTOR’S B R AN DI N G CHAL L ENG E

Young people new into a role can feel isolated and less able to learn the role when working from home. They miss out on interactions, hearing conversations and can more easily ask questions in the office.

One of the strongest messages from the roundtable was that local government suffers from an image problem and is frequently viewed as bureaucratic, slow moving and outdated.

“There is something also about what kind of work we’re valuing when people are on teams and not in the workplace. I may get all my emails and my reports done, but I’ve not spoken to very many people. So there is that balance, around what we are valuing, what you bring and whether you can collaborate differently.”

In reality, councils regularly respond to crises, meanwhile delivering transformation programmes and managing complex services. There is significant innovation within councils adapting to rapidly changing community demands.

“Actually, councils do move at pace and are very agile.”

There were discussions that the organisation is also missing out not just the individual.

“Local government suffers from an image problem rather than an agility problem.”

“I think also working in local government, if we’re saying that our branding is that we want people to be purpose driven and there for the community, there should be an expectation that we are working in that community.”

But the disconnect between perception and reality creates a significant recruitment challenge. Our research found that there is a need to make younger people more aware of what the modern council offers to offset some of the negativity and to promote what they value rather than what the sector may think they may want.

What young people want - from our research

AWA R E O F B E N E F I TS Local, job security and good employer.

REAC H I NG YOUNG PEOPLE Online (54%), CV upload via job boards and social media.

CO UNTERBALANCED Bureaucratic, slow moving and outdated.

WHAT D O YOU N G P EO P LE WAN T? Flexible working, wider benefits, paid internships, 4 day work week

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STO RY T E LLI N G AS A ST R AT EGI C TO O L This part of the discussion led to agreement on a problem - the sector must do more to communicate its impact and value.

“We do so much incredible stuff that goes under the radar.” There is no doubt that councils deliver purpose and impact therefore effective employer branding should focus on: • Real employee stories • Great community outcomes • Career progression opportunities • Innovation and transformation • Personal and professional development • Public impact and purpose. There is a major opportunity for local government to better communicate its purpose, impact and career diversity, turning public service into a stronger employer proposition. Candidates, particularly younger ones, expect authentic and engaging content delivered through digital channels and social media. There have been some campaigns to deliver these messages on behalf of local government but councils themselves must compete more effectively for attention by telling those compelling stories about the work they do and the people who do it.

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Rethinking recruitment S IM P L I FYI NG THE CA NDI DATE’S E XP ER I ENCE Traditional recruitment processes can unintentionally discourage applicants, particularly younger candidates, who expect streamlined digital experiences and may not have much work experience to include in their CVs. Participants highlighted the need for simpler, more accessible recruitment journeys.

“Young people want to interact online… and quite a smooth process.” Discussion around key improvements that could be made included: • Shorter application forms • Digital-first recruitment approaches • Faster decision-making • More engaging job boards and communication • Reduced administrative burden to apply. Supporting a positive candidate experience is increasingly a competitive advantage and that means digital-first, user-friendly recruitment experiences.

R ECRUI TI NG FO R P OTENTI A L NOT JUST E XP ER I ENCE Another significant theme was the need to move away from excessive emphasis on previous experience and formal qualifications.

“It’s difficult to get hiring managers to think beyond experience which is their big thing instead of the soft skills, the people skills.” Instead, recruitment should place greater focus on: • Transferable skills • Learning agility and attitude • Problem solving • Communication skills • Cultural alignment – that need to communicate purpose again. This approach can widen talent pools while supporting greater social mobility and workforce diversity. © Commercial Services Group

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Strengthening entry routes A PPRE NT I C ES H I P S AN D IN TE RNS HI P S

But there are barriers for the sector: • Limited funding • Insufficient programme capacity • Lack of permanent opportunities on completion • Challenges providing supervision and mentoring.

Apprenticeships and internships were recognised as valuable pathways into local government careers. They provide practical experience, build organisational loyalty and help broaden representation across the workforce.

Retirement and workforce exits risk creating a loss of institutional knowledge. Councils need mechanisms for knowledge transfer and mentoring. To help maximise return on investment, councils should ensure that structured pathways exist from apprenticeship or internship into sustained employment. This could mean more collaboration between councils within an area, enabling the sector to retain experienced talent instead of losing it to the private sector.

“When you look at the apprenticeships available on the government website not enough of them are in the local government. The private sector is much better at taking advantage of the opportunities with apprenticeships.”

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EA RL IE R E NG AGE M E N T There was wide agreement of the importance of engaging with young people before they enter the labour market. Many councils already do this, but it was recognised that more work could be done to strengthen school and college partnerships, encourage work experience placements and be visible at career fairs. There are creative ways that some councils already engage with local schools and colleges supporting community outreach. Many promote opportunities such as business challenges and co-working projects and encourage youth ambassador programmes. These opportunities can be linked to other council objectives such as supporting children in care into work and helping the long-term unemployed; it may just require a more joined up approach within council teams.

Building awareness earlier can help reshape perceptions and strengthen future talent pipelines.

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Developing and retaining talent REBU I L D I NG CAR E E R PAT H WAYS “We need to be offering careers in a different way.” Many expressed concern that traditional career pathways have become less visible over time. Employees increasingly struggle to understand how they can progress within councils. Visible career frameworks can support skills development and retention as well as workforce planning. This in turn helps identify talent to help with future leadership preparation.

L EA DER SHI P SUCCESSI O N P R ESSUR ES

The concept of "wiggly careers" emerged as a particularly relevant model for modern workforce development. Rather than expecting linear progression through a single profession, employees increasingly seek opportunities to move across functions, services and disciplines.

Leadership continuity was identified as a major concern. Participants noted that nearly half of UK chief executives have been appointed since 2022, reflecting substantial turnover across senior leadership positions. Others are simply exiting the sector or retiring.

“A wiggly career path has served me well.” While leadership change can bring fresh thinking and innovation, the high level of turnover also highlights the need for stronger internal succession planning. Too often, organisations rely on external recruitment rather than systematically developing future leaders from within.

Local government is ideally positioned and can encourage this approach and some councils are doing this already through: • Cross-service secondments • Rotational programmes • Project assignments • Talent exchanges • Internal mobility initiatives.

Successful sectors such as broadcasting and performing arts routinely build "understudy" models that prepare future leaders before vacancies arise. Local government can benefit from adopting similar approaches to leadership development and talent management.

These experiences broaden capability, improve retention and create more adaptable future leaders. But there have been some backward steps particularly impacting apprenticeships. The reforms to the Apprenticeship Levy through the new Growth and Skills Levy, has diverted funding away from higher level and management apprenticeship standards (Level 7). These were commonly used in local government and are likely to impact career progression for certain senior roles.

“They don’t say we haven’t anyone to present the 10 o’clock news, they have someone trained waiting in the wings who can take over.”

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Workforce planning for the next decade F ROM HR RES P O N S I B I LI T Y TO ORG A NI SAT I O N AL I M P E R AT I VE

Financial pressures often encourage short-term decision-making. However, participants stressed the importance of planning for workforce needs over a 5 to 15 year horizon. And rapid change requires new thinking, traditional workforce models may no longer be sufficient.

A central conclusion of the roundtable was that workforce planning cannot remain solely the responsibility of HR teams. Workforce sustainability impacts every aspect of organisational performance and therefore requires collective ownership across leadership teams.

“Times are changing and they are changing at such pace now.”

“It's a wider scope. We would traditionally think of this as a HR and OD type of approach. It's actually an organisational imperative.”

Future planning should consider: • Retirement trends • Skills evolution • Digital transformation and artificial intelligence • Changing resident expectations • Leadership succession requirements

Effective workforce planning should involve: • Executive leadership • Finance functions • Service directors • Operational managers • Organisational development professionals • Looking beyond immediate vacancies

Organisations that invest in long-term workforce strategies today will be better positioned to respond to future disruption.

“Councils need to do more to tell their story. Local government employees are passionate and purpose-driven, but without communicating their impact and articulating their brand, attracting new talent to councils will remain a challenge.”

Steve Wilson Managing Director, Recruitment Managed Services Commercial Services Group

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Recommendations for local government 1. DEVE LO P CO M P R EHENSI VE WO R K FO RCE P L A N S Create integrated workforce strategies aligned to organisational goals, future service demands and succession requirements.

2 . ST R E N GT H EN EM P LOYER BR A NDI NG Promote local government as a purpose-driven, impactful and dynamic career choice through stronger storytelling and digital engagement.

3. M O DE R N I SE R ECRUI TM ENT Simplify recruitment processes and focus on potential, skills and capability alongside experience.

4. E XPAN D TAL ENT P I P EL I NES Increase investment in apprenticeships, internships, graduate programmes and early-career pathways.

5. BU I LD LE A DER SHI P SUCCESSI O N FR A M EWO R KS Introduce structured talent development programmes that identify and prepare future leaders at all levels.

6. P RO M OT E I NTER NA L M O BI L I TY Encourage employees to gain experience across departments and functions, supporting career development and organisational resilience.

7. P R E PAR E FO R FUTUR E SK I L LS NEEDS Embed digital, data and AI capability planning within workforce strategies to ensure future readiness.

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Conclusion Local government faces a significant workforce challenge, but it also has a powerful opportunity. The sector offers meaningful work, social purpose, career variety and direct community impact that align strongly with the expectations of the next generations. Success will depend on the sector's ability to modernise recruitment, strengthen workforce planning, develop future leaders and communicate its value proposition more effectively. By investing in talent pipelines, career development and long-term workforce strategies, local government can build a sustainable, skilled and engaged workforce capable of meeting the challenges of the next decade and beyond.

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A BO UT T HE P P M A The Public Services People Managers Association (PPMA) is the is the professional association for public services HR and OD professionals. For more than 40 years the PPMA has been a collective voice for a highly qualified, passionate, committed and diverse public services Human Resources (HR) and Organisation Development (OD) community. The PPMA plays a critical role in influencing key decision-makers and stakeholders involved in people management and workforce issues.

www.ppma.org.uk

A BO UT C O M M E RC I AL S E RVI C ES GRO UP Commercial Services Group (CSG) delivers a vast range of products and services to customers in education, local government, housing and health. But across our 33 businesses we have one clear vision: to create value and impact for every customer, every day. We do that by working collaboratively and commercially. This in turn drives innovation and service excellence. As one the UK’s largest publicly owned, privately run business, we offer the best of both worlds – a clear focus on commercial expertise and leading-edge thinking, alongside a deep commitment to transparency, compliance and social value. Our profits provide sizeable returns to the public purse but that’s just one part of our story. Ultimately, everything we do creates better places for people to live, learn and thrive.

www.commercialservices.org.uk

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Find out more about our work across Local Government and other sectors at:

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