The numbers are grim, but so far, the reality has been more manageable. That's the viewpoint of
Missouri Chief Information Officer Rich Kliethermes, who spoke with
Government Technology at the
annual National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) conference late last year about the impending silver tsunami of retirements that have been forecasted to hit government IT.
The IT team numbers about 950 in Missouri. "We average between 10 to 12 retirements, resignations, terminations a month in Missouri, from the IT perspective," Kliethermes said. In the video above, he details the percentage of his workforce eligible to retire within the next few years.
It's a concern many CIOs share. The Center for Digital Government's*
2017 Digital Counties survey reveals that IT staffing is the No. 2 concern on the minds of county-level technology leaders, while the most recent
Digital States survey has the issue ranking as No. 4 on state CIO priority lists.
"Knock on wood, but as of yet, it hasn't been a full wave of that silver color coming through our organization."
*The Center for Digital Government is part of e.Republic, Government Technology's
parent company.
Noelle Knell is the executive editor for e.Republic, responsible for setting the overall direction for e.Republic’s editorial platforms, including Government Technology, Governing, Industry Insider, Emergency Management and the Center for Digital Education. She has been with e.Republic since 2011, and has decades of writing, editing and leadership experience. A California native, Noelle has worked in both state and local government, and is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, with majors in political science and American history.
