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NIRS Releases Report on State and Local Employee Views on Jobs, Pay and Benefits

On November 12, 2019, the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) released its report, State and Local Employee Views on Their Jobs, Pay and Benefits.  NIRS commissioned a national public opinion survey to examine the views of state and local public employees related to their job, pay and benefits.  The report is based on a survey of over 1,100 public sector employees age 18 and over with the majority being teachers as well as police officers, firefighters and other public sector employees.  All the employees are currently participating in pension plans.

The findings indicate that benefits are among the most important job features.  Of the respondents, 78% consider health insurance to be very important; 73% consider retirement benefits to be very important; and 71% consider salary to be important.  Many respondents have varying opinions pertaining to the competitiveness of their salary and compensation with 80% feeling that they could earn a higher salary in the private sector.  In 2019, 91% of state and local employees have access to retirement benefits, including defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) plans.  Overall, 94% have favorable views of DB plans.  In addition, 89% have access to medical care benefits. 

Other key findings include:

  • 93% of state and local employees feel pensions incentivize long years of public service;
  • 94% consider pensions to be an effective tool to attract and retain employees;
  • 89% plan to stay with their current employer until retirement eligibility or becoming unable to work;
  • 72% are confident in their ability to be financially secure in retirement; and
  • 86% are concerned about reductions in retirement benefits.

Currently, state and local governments are having difficulty attracting and retaining employees to perform essential taxpayers’ services.  However, the survey indicates that benefits like pensions are viewed as a powerful recruitment and retention tool and, therefore, reducing benefits may have severe workforce consequences.

The report is available here.