HARRISBURG, PA — On March 5, Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order to help fill critical vacancies in the Pennsylvania state workforce with experienced former federal employees who have specialized expertise in important fields like civil engineering, nursing, corrections, accounting and more.

The executive order directs the PA Office of Administration to accept federal government experience as equivalent to commonwealth work experience for civil service roles, ensuring former federal employees with valuable experience can more easily apply for essential vacant positions with the commonwealth. As part of the executive order, the Shapiro Administration will also begin an aggressive effort to recruit federal employees into Pennsylvania’s workforce, launching a new website with key information about exciting state government opportunities that align with their experience and hosting virtual and in-person job fairs for federal employees.

“Under my Administration, we’ve worked to speed up hiring, fill essential vacancies and recruit more qualified employees who have helped us cut processing times, reduce wait lists and deliver results for the people of Pennsylvania,” said Shapiro. “Right now, Pennsylvania still has 540 critical jobs to fill—and we have an opportunity to recruit federal workers and veterans who have significant experience and expertise in all of these fields because they’ve held these jobs already at the federal level or in the military.