South Dakota public sector employers face hiring crunch as record numbers retire

[TexasTowelie]

PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota's state employees will retire at record levels over the next half-a-decade, making it "tougher and tougher" to rehire the needed teachers, public safety, and county employees, according to a senior actuary.

A joint meeting of the South Dakota Retirement System Board of Trustees and the Legislature's Retirement Laws committee heard the annual state workforce demographics report on Thursday, Dec. 2, with officials confirming that more public employees hung up their hats in South Dakota in 2021 than ever before.

Officials add the departures will only increase as baby boomers exit the labor force.

"The next five years we're going to have five years of record number retirements," said Doug Fiddler, the board's senior actuary.

The pandemic has affected, albeit not caused, the underlying labor force departures, Fiddler said. Baby boomers -- those born between 1946 and 1964 -- have long constituted the largest share of the state's public sector workforce and are increasingly hitting retirement age.

Read more: https://www.inforum.com/news/government-and-politics/7307848-South-Dakota-public-sector-employers-face-hiring-crunch-as-record-numbers-retire