I reviewed a report the other day on the demographic crisis facing local government.
The premise is as follows: ‘A large number of "baby-boomers" are in the process of gradually retiring.  Problem – there are far fewer "generation X-ers" to replace them.
‘This is a particular challenge for the public sector which has a higher level of older baby-boomer employees than the private sector. The larger "replacement talent gaps" are in managerial and administrative ranks, in the private sector, but again, even more so in the public sector, and large numbers of local government chief executives and senior managers are now eligible to retire.'
Additional related phenomena exacerbating the demographics include:

poor rewards for increasingly-difficult jobs. Chief executive jobs are becoming increasingly complex, ‘political', and difficult, due to increasing levels of media scrutiny and community – and therefore, council – discord.
In addition to narrow political agendas, politicians have become more involved in trying to micro-manage. 
Finally, many organisations have created ‘toxic cultures' and work environments. Councils often don't recognise that candidates make career decisions based on the reputations of the recruiting organisations.
Simply put, candidates for top level roles do not perceive adequate compensation and other rewards for the jobs
l differing values: Generation X-ers want a balanced life and perceive that senior managers in local government are often consumed by work and do not have time for family, leisure and other personal pursuits.
In a post-9/11 world, they often resist moving their families – including their spouse who has his/her own career – to a new location and taking a role which may be fraught with risk. Consequently, there are growing numbers of candidates who do not apply, or pull out at the last moment
l the failure of local government to grow its own talent: Many roles have been eliminated as organisations have downsized.
There are now fewer opportunities across much of local government for up-and-coming talent to develop new skills and experiences in assistant and deputy positions. In fact, ‘career assistants' who have no desire to move up to a chief executive position often block the upward mobility of younger talent.
Reactions to the talent crisis include:
l use of interims: Bringing in a retired ‘old pro' for two to three years in order to fill critical executive positions
l taking bigger risks: Appointing younger, less-experienced candidates from inside or outside the organisations
l enlarging the potential pool of candidates: Becoming more open to the appointment of candidates from the private sector, women and multi-cultural candidates.
That said, and despite the need to broaden the pool of candidates now being a ‘business necessity', many organisations still ‘talk a good game' on diversity yet in fact, resist minority candidates. To move beyond the reactions to these new market realities, the report recommends:
l workforce planning and talent development: In addition to attracting younger workers to replenish and re-energise local government through paid and unpaid internships, local government needs to identify up-and-coming talent and engage them in leadership academies, special assignments and ‘action-learning' within and across departments, talent exchanges and interim positions where they can acquire line and management experience
l educating politicians: Awareness needs to be raised among politicians regarding: the replacement talent crisis; the need to consider younger talent and take bigger risks; the need to consider non-traditional candidates, especially people of colour, women and different cultures; the requirement that organisations, especially top management, focus on talent development and succession planning; and, most critically, the need for councils to fix their negative cultures and improve, over time their reputations so they can attract and retain talent.
Fascinating, relevant, direct and to the point. The irony is that the report summarises the output of a special summit of the International City & County Managers' Association (ICMA) and a range of executive recruiters… in the US... in 2005.
Hamish Davidson is chairman of Rockpools, Iris Consulting & Entrepreneurs in Action