States anticipating revenue shortfalls due to Federal budget cuts may feel the pressure to turn toward austerity measures or even privatization of public services. But these options actually undermine the critical mission of serving the public.

New research from the Center for American Progress (CAP)  demonstrates that strong standards around public employment leads to direct benefits to the public—and that a lack thereof leads to reduced public benefit.

“Good Jobs for Government Workers Improve Public Services,” written by Karla Walter and Sachin Shiva, explains how “state and local policymakers should uphold high standards for government workers and thereby ensure that the public continues to receive high-quality services.”

The brief points out that higher job quality standards lead to longer worker tenure and productivity, which leads to high-quality, reliable public goods and services and, ultimately, to a better return on investment for taxpayers. 

“Raising and maintaining strong standards for these workers and workers whose jobs are funded by government spending will help boost retention, thereby creating a more experienced, knowledgeable workforce and reducing restaffing costs.”=

The brief shows how those states without high standards experience increased staffing turnover—and the associated restaffing costs, including recruiting and training new employees and lost productivity while positions are vacant.

The brief points to additional benefits of strong standards leading to increased tenure, including boosting tax revenues, decreasing reliance on public assistance, and attracting younger people to fill the large number of expected vacancies as a wave of older public sector workers retires.