As our nation and state face workforce shortages during the “Great Retirement” and an ultra-competitive job market, the State of Connecticut is addressing its own workforce challenges head-on through collaboration, creativity, and competitiveness.
It’s no secret state government has lost extraordinary talent and expertise over the last few months with a big wave of retirements. On behalf of the DAS team, we are grateful for the service of our retirees statewide and wish them well in their next life adventures.
At this time of great challenge for state government, we also should reflect and take great pride on our collective efforts to recruit and retain the next generation of public service employees. As we look at the big picture, we’ve identified a number of positive trends relative to our state workforce:
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Overall, the executive branch state workforce continues to remain stable in employee counts even after the April 1st wave of retirements.
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The executive branch is on track to fill over 7,000 positions this fiscal year, the highest number in at least a decade. This impressive hiring rate is even more remarkable given the unprecedented COVID-19 related workforce challenges, an employee-driven competitive marketplace, and rapid decline in state unemployment.
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Since January 1, 2022, we’ve posted over 870 different job openings across our executive agencies including critical roles in health care, public safety, engineering, and IT.
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Since January 1, 2022, we’ve received over 50,000 job applications with March being a record breaking month at over 20,000 job applications received.
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Since January 1, 2022, agencies have filled over 1,600 positions including 454 hires in March alone.
Stay tuned for our April numbers!
While identifying trends is one thing, the DAS HR team and our state agency leadership are constantly and aggressively working to promote, recruit and hire hundreds of positions. Our ongoing recruitment efforts are designed to meet our diverse and unique workforce needs, through:
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Engagement with professional, community, educational, and diversity-focused organizations
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Strong social media presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram that promotes our state brand
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Use of “LinkedIn Recruiter” to individually contact and source candidates
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Use of “Handshake” to recruit students at higher education institutions around the country
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Virtual and in-person presence at dozens of academic and other career fairs, often with agency-specific hiring managers
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Engagement with agency leadership and hiring managers to build and grow their own professional networks to promote job opportunities (i.e., hiring managers’ digital presence and profile are increasingly critical to recruitment)
As we work collectively to meet the needs of our residents, businesses, and government partners, we also welcome the challenge to recruit and retain the best talent for Connecticut’s state government.
Last – we'd love for you to share the opportunities available to join our growing team at the state. Or apply yourself! You can find us by using the links below!
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LinkedIn: State of Connecticut
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Instagram: @CTStateJobs
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Facebook: @StateofCTJobs
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Twitter: @CTStateJobs
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Handshake: State of Connecticut Executive Branch
