Press Release: Hiring Reform With Humans at the Center
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: press@workforamerica.org
Date: Wednesday, October 1, 2025
Governments Across the Country Can’t Hire Fast Enough. Two Cities Just Cracked the Code.
New case study reveals how St. Louis and San Francisco slashed hiring timelines and strengthened public services – offering a model any city can follow.
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK – Across the U.S., local governments take an average of 130 days to hire new employees – more than three times the private sector average. That delay leaves neighborhoods without critical workers, job seekers stuck in limbo, and public services stretched thin.
But two cities – St. Louis, MO and San Francisco, CA – are showing that change is possible. A new case study from Work for America, Hiring Reform with Humans at the Center, documents how both cities overhauled outdated systems, cut months off the hiring process, and built stronger public teams in the process.
St. Louis cut job fill times from 9–12 months down to 2–3 months, boosted placement rates by 1.7x, and saved $250,000 annually across 36 departments.
San Francisco redesigned its hiring journey to improve candidate communication, attract more applicants, and launch a permanent Hiring Modernization Team to sustain reforms long-term.
“When hiring drags on for months, everyone loses,” said Shifra Goldenberg, Chief Program Officer at Work for America. “Government agencies miss out on top talent, mission-driven job seekers walk away from public service, and people don’t get the everyday support they desperately need. Fixing decades of accumulated and overly complex hiring processes isn’t easy, but cities like San Francisco and St. Louis not only prove it’s possible, but that the payoff is huge: faster hires, stronger teams, and better services for our communities.”
The report highlights a playbook that any city can adopt: update core applicant tracking systems, put HR staff and frontline workers at the center of reform, and focus on candidate experience. The results? Faster hires, stronger teams, and more reliable services for communities.
This case study is part of Work for America’s broader effort to tackle the public sector staffing crisis, including:
Civic Match, a free platform connecting 12,000+ job seekers displaced by federal layoffs with 1,100+ government hiring managers nationwide.
Spotlight Cities, a targeted initiative helping local governments modernize hiring pipelines and raise the visibility of public service careers.
Work for America and InnovateUS will host a webinar on Thursday, October 9 at 2PM ET to go over the case study findings and share how the cities of St. Louis and San Francisco reimagined their hiring practices with people, not paperwork, at the center. RSVP here.
About Work for America
Work for America is a nonpartisan nonprofit working to solve the government staffing crisis by helping state and local governments recruit, hire, and retain the people they need to deliver for their communities. We believe that public service should be a desirable, accessible, and stable career path for Americans from all walks of life.
From launching Civic Match, a national platform connecting mission-driven talent with government jobs, to helping cities modernize hiring systems and tell a more compelling story about public sector work, Work for America is making it easier for great people to serve, and for communities to thrive.
Our work has been recognized by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and TIME for its innovative approach to rebuilding the public workforce. Read more here.
