The workshop was led by renowned experts in the introduction of new approaches in public administration Piret Tõnurist, Kevin Richman and Jamie Berryhill.

One of the main challenges in this area is the ageing of working population (in the upcoming years, every fourth public sector employee will be over 55 years old). Therefore, the discussion focused on two problems: how to effectively deal with the consequences of the ageing of employees, particularly how to adapt the working environment to the increasing share of older employees, and how to deal with the lack of digital skills in the older population.

Measures to tackle the lack of digital skills in older employees must be aimed at familiarising older employees with digitalisation, finding ways to promote the development of digital skills and training employees in new work methods.

What kind of working conditions should public administration provide to attract and retain competent staff? Are the pay or financial reward and job security and stability in public administration enough? What are the possibilities of public administration becoming an attractive employer in the eyes of job seekers or talent?

The proposed solutions indicate the necessity of a long-term, strategic and systematic approach to the management of human resources in public administration. All the participants also agreed that it is essential to implement flexible forms of work to attract and motivate younger staff.