This Research Paper was commissioned as part of Our Public Service 2020 (Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, 2017). This is the current reform programme for the public service. Action 13 requires the public service to mainstream workforce planning. A decision was made by the Action 13 working group to commission an updated research paper from the IPA to support them in their key objectives of:

• Advancing strategic workforce planning as a discipline within the public sector
• Ensuring the value proposition of strategic workforce planning is understood across the public sector
• Considering shared approaches to common workforce challenges.