Hiring, Retaining, and Upskilling Digital Service Talent in Government:
Stories and Strategies from State and Local Leaders

Background

Since 2022, the Digital Service Network (DSN) has worked closely with digital leaders across federal, state, provincial, and local governments in North America. One theme consistently emerges: hiring, retaining, and upskilling top-tier digital service talent in the public sector is an ever-present challenge.

As high-profile federal dismissals unfold, state and local governments are seizing the opportunity to recruit these experienced public servants. Many are targeting former staff from agencies like the U.S. Digital Service, 18F, GSA’s Technology Transformation Service, Defense Digital Service, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the National Institutes of Health, and more—aiming to build or strengthen their own in-house digital service delivery capacities.

As state and local governments ramp up these efforts, they must confront long-standing structural barriers to bringing in digital service talent. But there’s good news: some states and cities are already leading the way with smart, creative strategies to not only justify the need for, but to hire, retain, and develop digital service talent for the long term. 

To support these efforts, DSN launched a research stream in 2024 focused on public-sector digital service talent with two motivating goals: to identify promising practices for justifying investment in, hiring, retaining, and upskilling digital service talent in state and local government; and to publish experience-backed, action-oriented resources that help these governments successfully build and sustain in-house digital service talent and teams.

Research questions

DSN’s research into government digital talent is grounded in a core set of assumptions shaped by three years of close collaboration with digital service leaders across all levels of government. These following premises reflect the realities these leaders face on the ground:

• Some governments have built—or are working to build—dedicated digital service teams, while others have not and may never do so. Regardless of organizational structure, the demand for talent with digital service expertise is growing across all governments.
• Executive leaders and elected officials need clear, compelling evidence to prioritize investment in digital talent.
• Recruiting and retaining digital professionals remain persistent challenges, driven by a wide range of structural and cultural factors.
• Upskilling current public servants in digital practices is just as important as bringing in new talent. It’s often more cost-effective—and it builds on the critical institutional knowledge and deep commitment of existing employees.
• Digital service is still a relatively new function in government. As such, the work can be isolating and under-supported, contributing to burnout and high turnover among public-sector digital professionals.

Based on these premises, we developed eight research questions across four “elements” of cultivating government digital service (DS) talent:

	Elements of cultivating government digital service (DS) delivery talent
	Justification	Hiring	Retention	Upskilling
Research questions	What strategies have been successful in convincing executive leadership to hire DS talent in government? What messages are successful to influence appropriators to fund DS teams/operations?	What are some major challenges to hiring DS talent presented by government HR processes? How might public employees collaborate effectively with HR to bring in top DS talent?	What kinds of support and resources might help keep DS talent in government longer?   What career ladders or pathways can DS talent pursue if they want to move up (not out) in government?	What do current public employees need to develop their own DS expertise, and what might be the benefits of helping them do so? What is working and what is missing from the current landscape of upskilling and training curricula for DS skills and capacities?

Stories and strategies from state and local leaders

To uncover what works on the ground, DSN launched a storytelling initiative—gathering insights from digital service leaders in state and local government. These leaders shared the hard-won lessons and strategies that helped them justify the need for digital talent, and hire, retain, and upskill employees with digital expertise effectively.

Justifying the need for digital service talent in government

The Plays

• Crunch the numbers: Use benefit-cost analysis to make a data-driven case.
• Show, don’t tell: Launch pilot projects with existing resources to demonstrate value.
• Tell human-centered stories: Even small wins matter—highlight how digital efforts improve lives.

Justifying the need for more digital service talent in government is often an uphill battle. It’s hard to compete with highly visible, immediate priorities like roads and public safety— too often, digital service work seems abstract in comparison.

State and local leaders told us that the key to overcoming this is a dogged commitment to the long-term, nebulous work of culture-building. Success starts with clear, compelling stories—focused on how digital services improve the everyday experiences of the people government serves. These stories build understanding, trust, and political will.

Another winning strategy: frame digital investments as essential to operational efficiency. Demonstrate how they save time and money, reduce risk, and help agencies deliver more with less. Leaders also emphasized aligning digital initiatives with broader policy goals and using early wins—however small—to build momentum.

I frame hiring digital service experts as a cost avoidance method. We might spend twice as much on contractors, have less control, and different incentives. I consistently stress that having internal talent in leadership roles gives us the ability to get better outcomes in a more repeatable way.”

Marcy Jacobs
Chief Digital Experience Officer
State of Maryland

We focus on sharing success stories that link past digital talent investments to real resident pain points. This shows our organizational and community leaders that we’re following through on our plans—and that these hires are making a meaningful impact. So when we seek more support, it’s an easier sell—they see the results and know this isn’t a trend, it’s a strategy that’s working.”

Jason Jones
Assistant County Manager for Quality Government
Guilford County, North Carolina

Go deeper on justifying the need for digital service talent: 

Hiring and retaining digital service talent in government

The Plays

• Make HR your best friend: Job reclassifications are foundational to progress.
• Think outside the box: Tap into underused and unconventional hiring authorities and pathways.
• Reduce the need for new hires: Share tools and templates to spread digital capacity.
• Make mentorship a core job duty: Expand talent by growing it from within.

Hiring digital talent in government is tough—and once hired, keeping people can be even tougher. Leaders across the DSN pointed to slow, outdated hiring systems and processes as a major hurdle. HR teams may not fully understand what’s needed for roles like product managers or user researchers, leading to vague job descriptions and salary ranges that fall flat.

The solution? Build strong partnerships with HR. Work together to modernize job classifications, craft clear role definitions, and create flexible, targeted hiring strategies. Beyond these strategies, many DSN leaders have found success using internships, fellowships, and direct hiring authorities to move faster and reach nontraditional candidates. Partnering with local work training organizations can also create a new pathway for hiring.

Retention demands equal investment. The most effective digital service leaders invest in professional development, map out growth paths, and make it their job to create an organizational culture that respects digital skills. Offering remote work options and valuing mentorship all help create an environment where digital professionals want to stay for the long haul.

Where we’ve done the most is managing burnout and morale. We focus on retention, professional development, and making sure our team feels supported—and it means we have great people who stick around, despite facing organizational challenges or a shorter career ladder.”

Michal Perlstein
Senior Manager, Digital Engagement
City of Seattle, Washington

We’ve built relationships with local training programs, and created internal job transfer and learning opportunities, which have helped us both hire and skill up great candidates.”

Megan Evans Seeds
Director, Digital Experience
Hennepin County, Minnesota

Go deeper on hiring and retaining digital service talent:

Empowering longstanding public servants with digital service skills

The Plays

• Look to upskilling first: Few digital delivery roles can only be filled with new recruits. Focus on accessing the right high-quality tools and training to cultivate the digital delivery skills your workforce needs.
• Use what’s out there: Tap into free and low-cost resources from nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations.
• Make learning “sticky”: Upskilling shouldn’t start and end with individuals in the classroom— reaching leadership, sustaining communities of practice, and tying learning to promotions motivates learners to apply their new skills.

Public servants want to learn new digital skills. Upskilling these eager learners is often the best option to expand your organization’s digital delivery capacity. Across the DSN, leaders shared stories of employees eager to embrace new tools and mindsets, from service design to agile project management. But enthusiasm often runs into common roadblocks: limited time, limited support, and limited funding.

Balancing day-to-day responsibilities with developing and applying new skills is no small feat. That’s why successful upskilling strategies focus on embedding learning into the flow of work—not just adding it on top. This includes building internal communities of practice and creating protected time for training.

DSN leaders also emphasized the importance of both top-down and grassroots strategies for cultivating new digital skills. Executive support is crucial for resourcing and prioritizing learning, while on-the-ground staff often lead the way by piloting new approaches and mentoring peers.

More good news: upskilling doesn’t have to be expensive. Teams are using open-source toolkits, peer-led workshops, and free resources from nonprofits to jumpstart digital learning. Ultimately, what matters most is creating a culture where continuous learning is expected, supported, and celebrated.

We have an amazing workforce who want to use 21st century skills and tools to improve state programs and Californians’ experience of their government. And we have found that very few digital service delivery roles can only be filled by recruiting outside talent. Instead, we should focus on upskilling the current workforce—providing them access to modern tools and the high-quality training needed to use them in a human-centered, outcome-driven way.”

Anne Crew-Renzo
Chief Innovation Training Officer
State of California

To make learning truly stick, we need to go beyond the classroom by engaging not just individual learners, but also their managers and leaders—creating an environment that supports and reinforces new skills back on the job.”

John Sanborn
Chief Learning Officer
State of California

Go deeper on upskilling digital service talent:

Build your government’s digital service talent with the DSN

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