Seven Years, 3 Surveys, a Changed World: The State Public Health Workforce 2014-2021.

CONTEXT

The COVID-19 pandemic and other public health challenges have increased the need for longitudinal data quantifying the changes in the state public health workforce.

OBJECTIVE

To characterize the state of governmental public health workforce among state health agency (SHA) staff across the United States and provide longitudinal comparisons to 2 prior fieldings of the survey.

DESIGN

State health agency leaders were invited to have their workforce to participate in PH WINS 2021. As in prior fieldings, participating agencies provided staff lists used to send e-mail invitations to employees to participate in this electronic survey.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

State health agency staff.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

PH WINS 2021 maintains the 4 primary domains from 2014 and 2017 (ie, workplace engagement, training needs assessment, emerging public health concepts, and demographics) and includes new questions related to the mental and emotional well-being; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on staff retention; and the workforce's awareness of and confidence in emerging public health concepts.

RESULTS

The percentage of SHA staff who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of color increased from 30% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 29%-32%) to 35% (95% CI: 35%-37%) between 2014 and 2021. Staff younger than 31 years accounted for 11% (95% CI: 10%-12%) of the SHA workforce in 2021 compared with 8% in 2014 (95% CI: 8%-9%). From 2014 to 2021, staff who self-identify as a woman increased from 72% (95% CI: 71%-74%) to 76% (95% CI: 75%-77%). Overall, 22% (95% CI: 21%-23%) of the SHA workforce rated their mental health as poor/fair.

CONCLUSION

The 2021 PH WINS results represent unique and current perspectives on the SHA workforce and can inform future public health infrastructure investments, research, and field practice to ensure a strong public health system.