GovGuam strives to recruit, retain professionals to support services

BY OYAOL NGIRAIRIKL
Journal Staff

The lack of certain professionals in the government of Guam — from public safety officers and nurses to attorneys, teachers, and even community planners — is a long-standing issue that has had real consequences.
(See Law and Orders: Attorneys face challenges in the Nov. 5, 2024 Journal)

Guam has increased salaries for government employees in general, as well as specific professional groups, in the last four years. The 22% pay increase approved by Gov. Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero in 2023 for government of Guam employees was part of a broad effort to make government wages more competitive and to retain skilled workers.

For the Bureau of Statistics and Plans, and likely many other agencies, the 22% increase was an added incentive for existing staffing levels to stay on the job.

BSP’s mission is to ensure Guam’s resources are effectively used for the benefit of present and future generations by ensuring consistency among various plans, policies, and programs. The bureau providess statistical data and information in annual publications like the Yearbook, generates economic reports that help advise the governor’s formulation on policies and programs, provides technical and other support to other government entities, such as writing and monitoring grants to gain funding to help other entities meet their missions, and provides oversight during the formulation and integration of plans, policies, and programs which further social, economic, environmental and physical development goals and priorities.

Lola Leon Guerrero, director of BSP; said her agency has 29 full-time employees including four unclassified positions: director, deputy director, and two survey workers. There are six vacant positions.

“BSP has sufficient core administrative staff to manage daily administrative operations. However, we do need additional technical employees such as statisticians, statistical technicians and an economist for the Business and Economic Statistics Division. BSP also lacks a GIS analyst to update and maintain the GIS mapping,” she said. Matthew Santos, the BSP deputy director, has been instrumental in filling the gaps left by the vacancies, including creating and updating the GIS maps, she said.

While BSP hasn’t lost any employees to the U.S. mainland, they have lost one high-level personnel member, a Planner III, to a federal government job in Guam. This is an ongoing issue that many Guam government agencies are seeing as they compete against higher-paying federal departments for qualified, professional individuals.

“BSP has a shortage in the Business and Economic Statistics division,” Leon Guerrero said. That division has a vacancy for a chief economist, economist, and Statistician II, due to retirement. The division is also in need of a Statistician I, and Statistical Technician II.

The chief economist position, which has been vacant for about five years, is responsible for, among other things, the consumer pricing index report. While BSP recruits for these positions, the BSP deputy director is also providing the needed technical support.

The government has had difficulty filling many of the vacancies, in large part due to economic opportunities more widely available in Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. Many of Guam’s youth also choose to join the military, and their careers take them away from home.

In 1998, government numbers peaked at about 16,980 employees and slid to over 12,000 a few years later; those numbers have been maintained for the most part. While the decrease helped to reduce cost, outmigration caused a brain drain that left many agencies without  historic and institutional knowledge.

In September, the number of government employees remained at just over 12,000.

It’s not an issue specific to Guam, either. At the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Communique held in August, Gov. Leon Guerrero and other Pacific leaders considered the outmigration of skilled professionals to be a serious issue.

In the Marshall Islands, President Hilde C. Heine, upon taking office in 2024, proposed salary increases as well as certain increases in social benefits (See President Hilda C. Heine promotes social safety nets for the Marshall Islands in the May 6, 2024 issue of the Journal.)

In 2022, President Surangel S. Whipps Jr. of Palau pushed to increase the minimum wage for the nation. Working with Palau’s national legislative body, the Olbiil Era Kelulau, he was able to secure an increase in government employees’ minimum wage to $5 in two 75-cent increments, effective in 2023 and 2024 respectively. In 2024, he and the OEK again increased the national minimum wage in similar fashion with the second 75-cent raise effective this October (See Palau’s Minimum Wage to Increase in the June 18, 2024 issue of the Journal.)

Krystal Paco-San Agustin, the governor of Guam’s director of communications; said reports from agencies “indicate that our efforts to retain and recruit talent are making a real impact.”

She said, “The hemorrhaging of personnel at the Guam Police Department and Guam Memorial Hospital has drastically slowed, and we’re even seeing officers express interest in returning to the force since the implementation of retention pay.

“Additionally, incentive programs like the University of Guam’s Navigating Home initiative are helping us bring talent back to Guam, filling critical roles in agencies such as the Department of Agriculture and the Guam Environmental Protection Agency.”

Austin Shelton, director of the UOG Center for Island Sustainability and Sea Grant and principal investigator of NSF Navigating Home, said the Navigating Home Program is helping bring graduates back home.

"The Navigating Home program succeeded in bringing home two year-long participants who completed their fellowship and are now employed at the Guam Energy Office and Department of Agriculture,” he said.

“Three summer fellows gained experience in host agencies and established connections with potential employers for their eventual return home after completing their advanced degrees. We have openings for four year-long fellows and nine summer fellows this year. We look forward to continue building our local workforce with highly skilled professionals dedicated to the sustainable future of their home island."

Paco-San Agustin said the government also continues to advocate for internship programs such as the Guam Community College bootcamps to help fill vacancies in high-demand industries.

“Through our collaboration with the Guam Department of Labor, we are expanding apprenticeship programs to create more career pathways for our people,” she said. “What sets Guam apart from other islands is that our biggest competitor for human resources is the federal government. This unique challenge makes it even more critical to invest in our workforce and create an environment where employees feel valued and supported.”

While salary increases and training are helping to retain and recruit for jobs, there’s also a focus on benefits. The administration, in early February launched the GovGuam Worksite Wellness Program to help promote physical and mental health.

“Our administration remains committed to expanding training opportunities so that our employees can grow, advance, and build lasting careers in public service,” Paco-San Agustin said. mbj