Last week, ASPPH co-hosted a webinar with the de Beaumont Foundation highlighting key findings from the 2024 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs (PH WINS) survey and ASPPH’s First Destination graduate outcomes data. These data provide a compelling look at the needs and motivations of the early-career public health workforce. Importantly, the 2024 PH WINS survey data show that the percentage of the state and local public health workforce with a public health degree has increased from 14% to 22%.

Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs (PH WINS) 2024 Survey 

Conducted in 2014, 2017, 2021, and 2024 by the de Beaumont Foundation and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), PH WINS is the only nationally representative source of data about the governmental public health workforce. Based on nearly 57,000 survey responses, the findings come with a new suite of interactive dashboards and over 40 Insights to Action tools designed to help agencies interpret and act on their data.

Key findings from PH WINS’ 2024 data include:

• 22% of public health workers now hold a degree in public health, up from 14% in previous years—an encouraging signal of the growing value placed on formal public health education.
• 25% of the workforce is aged 35 and under, and more than half have been in their role or the field for five years or less.
• 75% of workers plan to stay at their government agency in the next year; of those planning to leave, 27% still intend to remain in government public health.
• 71% report at least one symptom of burnout, with one in five experiencing symptoms nearly all the time.
• Top training needs include budget and financial management, policy engagement, and strategic thinking.
• While most employees say their agencies are committed to community partnerships, fewer feel that community voices are prioritized in agency decision-making.

ASPPH’s First Destination Graduate Outcomes Data

Also discussed during our recent webinar was ASPPH’s First Destination graduate outcomes data. In 2020, ASPPH, along with colleagues from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences, and University of Minnesota School of Public Health, conducted the first broad-based study of public health graduates from 2015-2018 to understand the future public health workforce. The analysis of data on 53,463 graduates found that 73% were employed as their first-destination outcome following graduation; in addition, 15% enrolled in further education; 5% entered a fellowship, internship, residency, volunteer, or service program; and 6% were not employed.

Reaching Alignment

As schools and programs of public health, we have a critical opportunity to align educational programming and professional development with these findings, especially in addressing skill gaps, supporting worker well-being, and preparing graduates for long-term impact in public health practice.