With the growing workforce challenges facing municipalities in Georgia and the need to continually invest in workforce development, GMA and its nonprofit, Georgia City Solutions (GCS), launched the Jobs with Purpose initiative in 2021. Along with the leadership of the Municipal Workforce Development Advisory Council, GMA and GCS partnered with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia to conduct a municipal government workforce needs assessment and to use the results to guide the development of a workforce strategy for GMA, GCS, and Georgia cities.

The needs assessment process identified several potential focal areas for addressing workforce challenges and leveraging opportunities for advancing workforce development efforts. Members of the Municipal Workforce Development Advisory Council analyzed the needs assessment data and prioritized the top items they felt would make substantive progress in workforce development. Council members identified two tracks for addressing the needs assessment findings: (1) the development of statewide partnerships, resources, and pilot funding opportunities by GMA and GCS, and (2) potential action items for cities organized into four strategy areas: 

• Employee Recruitment
• Employee Retention
• Pay and Benefits
• Planning and Strategic Partnerships

This report both serves as a summary of the work to date and also provides a roadmap for GMA, GCS, and cities to proactively address their workforce needs through investment, planning, and strategy implementation.