Workforce Trends in Public Health Preparedness
July 07, 2026 | Kelsey Tillema, Adrianna Evans
Public health preparedness professionals fulfill critical functions in the event of a public health emergency, such as coordinating emergency response planning, managing incident command structures, and ensuring readiness for a multitude of threats. This essential group of workers faces significant strain, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, which accelerated major workforce changes within public health. The prolonged emergency response intensified staff burnout and increased turnover, prompting many professionals to retire or even leave the field. New data shows the public health preparedness workforce specifically is less tenured and navigating unique challenges when it comes to shifts in funding and policy priorities. When it comes to who’s behind the scenes of preparedness and response, it’s crucial to consider how to maintain an engaged workforce capable of scaling, coordinating, and sustaining response operations under pressure.
The Workforce Landscape
According to the 2024 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey, the preparedness workforce makes up roughly 13% of the state and local public health workforce. Of these approximately 30,000 workers, nearly a quarter (23%) are age 35 or younger, and another quarter (28%) are 55 and older. Although this is not unique to the preparedness workforce, this reflects an aging workforce as experienced staff approach retirement and new professionals enter the field. Further, about half of preparedness health agency staff (49%) have been with their agency for less than five years.
Considering this transition, health agencies may face the loss of institutional knowledge related to emergency operations, incident command structures, and preparedness and response protocols. As experienced professionals exit the workforce, this may also create gaps in mentorship, leadership, and overall response experience. However, like the rest of the public health workforce, most preparedness staff (73%) show commitment to staying with their organizations for at least the next year. Preparedness staff cited benefits, job stability, and supportive coworkers as their main reasons for staying. On the other hand, the top reasons for leaving are pay, organizational culture/climate, and lack of opportunities for advancement.
To gain insight into gaps within the workforce’s expertise, preparedness leaders may want to consider partnering with their agency’s internal workforce development team to conduct a workforce assessment within their program. Regularly assessing a preparedness team’s skillset and needs can give greater clarity on how to best support team development and growth. Agency leadership can create cohesion between tenured and new professionals by offering or supporting both formal and informal mentorship, and establishing avenues to create familiarity with response systems, interagency coordination, and real-world experience. Newer professionals may bring fresh perspectives and diverse skillsets to the workforce but need support from tenured staff to become well-versed in the preparedness sector. At this juncture, succession planning and supporting career advancement pathways are essential components to building up the next generation of leaders in public health preparedness.
Knowledge Transfer and New Skills
Whether responding to pandemics, natural disasters, or radiological events, working in preparedness requires strategic and cross-disciplinary capabilities that go beyond traditional emergency response. During a public health emergency, staff must rapidly activate response plans, coordinate across agencies, and make high-stakes decisions. Since evidence shows that many workers are new to the field, it’s crucial to ensure that staff are continuously learning internal systems and building preparedness-specific skills.
Both new and rising preparedness staff members need a variety of skills to make informed decisions and grow within their organizations. Areas such as administrative preparedness, navigation of policy and legislative processes, and leadership development are all key to creating a cohesive internal workforce system. Leadership skills are crucial for preparedness staff, who must coordinate across agencies, communicate crisis and risk information to a variety of audiences, and operate within the Incident Command System. Other important and emerging topical considerations for skill expansion include data analytics, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, multimedia risk communication, and specialized areas of preparedness (e.g., accessibility, radiation readiness, climate and animal health), to name a few. While some of this knowledge can be passed on through mentorship or job experience, staff should also have access to structured, high-quality learning opportunities. Continuing education courses, certificate programs, and tuition reimbursement can all support staff development.
Policy and Funding Considerations
Internal workforce policies have significant influence on an agency’s workforce retention, morale, and skill building. Beyond salary, policies related to flexible working arrangements, paid training time, career advancement opportunities, and recognition and well-being programs all contribute to how supported staff feel in their roles. Agency leadership can also assess their broader levels of policy, such as student loan repayment and tuition assistance, to make preparedness careers more competitive and accessible.
Externally, public health preparedness programs rely heavily on federal funding streams such as the Public Health Emergency Preparedness cooperative agreement and the Hospital Preparedness Program. As a result, preparedness hiring and turnover cycles can be influenced by grant timelines. As federal priorities shift, this uncertainty can make it challenging for agencies to sustain long-term workforce investments and main continuity of operations. Many agencies are exploring ways to adapt, using strategies to braid and layer funding streams to stabilize staff, while others use supplemental funds such as the Public Health Infrastructure Grant to invest in foundational capabilities and workforce development beyond just preparedness activities.
Preparing for the Future
Agencies have an opportunity to address the primary drivers of attrition and strengthen the preparedness workforce. Expanding workforce development opportunities internally and externally will help to maintain institutional knowledge and prepare the workforce for evolving modern day threats. While the future of public health preparedness does rely on funding and policy, it also relies on skilled, committed workers. As the workforce landscape continues to evolve, investing in the development, retention, and lifting up of a generation of new leaders will determine how effectively we respond to future crises.
Learn more about strategies and reSTHO’s Inspire Readiness Workforce page and the ASTHO Workforce Resupport preparedness staff
Reviewed by Meredith Allen, DrPH, MS, Vice President, Health Security; and Lisa Peterson, Senior Director, Preparedness
