Current Workforce and Succession Plan Status

In accordance with HR Manual Policy 2901, CalHR tracks the following on an annual basis:

• Organizations with a current workforce plan and/or succession management plan.
• Actions the organization is taking to address any classifications with significant underutilizations, if applicable.
• Progress of action items in the workforce and succession management plans.
• Workforce challenges and risks organizations face.

• Organizations are asked to share the status of their workforce and succession management plans and select their workforce challenges and risks during the annual survey and plan collection period from September 1-30.
• Organizations submit current plans to CalHR for compliance review during this time. CalHR checks each plan to make sure it contains the requirements outlined in HR Manual Policy 2901.

The Dashboard below can be used to view current and historic data related to workforce plans and succession management plans by year and by department. The Dashboard can be navigated using the various navigation tabs at the top. Please see the Dashboard Overview tab for more information.

Click HE​RE ​for the full screen dashboard.

Beginning in 2024, organizations provided input about the workforce challenges and risks, whether current plans are in place or not. The top challenges and risks are displayed in the graph below by year. CalHR uses this data to inform educational offerings and tools for departments to address these challenges and risks through effective workforce planning and succession management strategies.

About the Data

The challenges and risks represent a roll up from a list of options under the broader categories of Recruitment, Retention, Employee Development, Knowledge Transfer, and Succession Management. Within each category, survey respondents are invited to select all that are relevant to their workforce planning and succession management efforts. The totals reflected in the graph show how frequently respondents selected options within each of the broader risk categories.

Trend Analysis

The total number of responding departments increased slightly from 117 in 2024 to 122 in 2025. From 2024 to 2025 there was a 36% increase in the number of departments with either a workforce or succession management plan in place while there was a 4% increase in the number of responding departments. This indicates that state departments are becoming increasingly aware of the challenges and risks facing the state workforce and making significant efforts to create plans to address these challenges and risks.

Retention related challenges and risks remain the most significant, from 159 times in 2024 and then climbing to 285 times in 2025. This sharp increase reflects the increased focus on a variety of strategies to reduce turnover and increase engagement, consistent with that department’s workforce planning and succession management efforts.

Succession Management related challenges and risks also saw a substantial rise, from 114 times in 2024 to 240 times in 2025. This indicates strategies are being put in place in response to a growing concern about leadership continuity and the ability to fill critical roles as employees leave or retire.

Knowledge Transfer continues to be a major focus, increasing from 128 in 2024 to 232 in [SG4.1]2025. The growing number reflects departments ramping up efforts to implement strategies to preserve institutional knowledge and mitigate the risk of knowledge loss due to turnover.

Recruitment concerns rose from 93 in 2024 to 173 in 2025, highlighting that plans increasingly contain strategies for attracting qualified candidates in a competitive labor market.

Employee Development, while the lowest-reported category, still increased meaningfully—from 55 times in 2024 to 99 times in 2025. This suggests a heightened recognition of the opportunity to invest in increasing employee skills and competencies.