P07 SIG Public Sector Human Resources
The Elephant in the Room: Public Sector Workforce for the Future
Panel Member(s) & Contact Details
Chair and Review Group Chair: Professor Karen Johnston, University of Portsmouth, karen.johnston@port.ac.uk
Co-Chairs:
Professor Pablo Sanabria, Universidad EAFIT Colombia
Professor Norma Riccucci, Rutgers University Newark
Professor Jessica Sowa, University of Delaware
Assistant Professor Mauricio Astudillo Rodas, Florida State University
Summary
This panel explores how equity, wellbeing, and digital transformation are reshaping public sector employment and HR practices in a turbulent global landscape. It invites research on emotional labor, DEI challenges, AI-driven workforce changes, and the evolving appeal of public service careers. Comparative studies across regions and governance systems are encouraged, especially those addressing legitimacy, merit, and inclusion in public administration.
Description
The SIG will welcome papers from across the globe, that will address the following themes and questions:
Perspectives on Equity and Merit in the public sector.
- How has the changing political landscapes and challenges to DEI policies and programs impact upon an equitable and meritorious public sector, and the wellbeing of public sector employees?
New research on emotional labor and wellbeing in the public sector.
- Extant research has demonstrated the importance of organizational and managerial support for wellbeing, what is the new research on the links between wellbeing and emotional labor in the public sector.
The impact of digitalization on public sector workforces and the future of public sector employment.
- How is the application of digital technologies and AI shaping HR practices and the public sector workforce of the future, and what is the impact on public sector job security and public sector employees’ wellbeing?
Debates on whether the public sector is today an employer of choice.
- With increasing vacancies and declining interest in public service, what are the wellbeing implications of the extant workforce and are there innovative human resource practices to future proof public administration capacity?
The panel invites country base studies but also comparative studies within and across the Global North and South, focusing on differences between countries with strong public administrations and those lacking merit-based civil service systems. It also calls for analysis of shared challenges such as democratic backsliding, populism, clientelism, politicization, and corruption—factors that undermine merit and inclusion in public HR policies and affect the legitimacy and effectiveness of public employment worldwide.
Panel format
The format for the 2026 Public Sector Human Resource Special Interest Group will involve panels for each theme as listed above. Each panel theme will consist of 4 to 5 presenters, each delivering a short 10-minute synopsis of their research with more time devoted to discussing the main arguments of the paper and how it advances our knowledge in the area. Thus, in order to advance ideas on the themes of the SIG Panel will be an in-person presentation (10 minutes), question and answer session of the paper (15 minutes) and a discussion of paper by a Co-Chair of the SIG (5minutes).