Attracting Top Talent Back to the Emergency Management Field

By Tamara Croom Doss, MSHRM, CEM; Doctor of Science Candidate in Emergency Management; Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Alabama

Emergency Management (EM) is one of the most important and (ironically) most underappreciated jobs in the public service industry. EM is a high-pressure profession that requires one to pull order from chaos, save lives, build community resilience, and work with the hardest hit cities after a disaster to help them get back on their feet. However, the field is hemorrhaging talent and not enough new recruits are coming in. As a result, the EM field is on life support, and lacks credibility, the impact it should have for the professional community. The reasons are simple. Compensation is too low. Advancement is too limited. And it can be challenging for the public to see the value in this profession.

To revive the field’s respectability and sustainability, we must first recruit and retain its workers. The field must invest in fair compensation as well as a more inclusive, innovative, and mission-driven culture that empowers people and reminds them of the importance of the work (Bennett, 2019). Now is the time to act: if we want to save and strengthen emergency management, we must unite as a community to demand investment, create pathways for growth, and champion the essential work EM professionals do every day.

Low pay is the primary impediment to attracting the best people. Emergency managers make much less than homeland security specialists, public health officers, or private-sector risk managers, though their work is equally important to public safety. They save lives and property and lead large, multi-agency responses to complex, high-risk events. Governments should upgrade the classification of local emergency manager positions. Establishing common pay scales based on the Certified Emergency Manager designation or advanced degrees would ensure that compensation is more commensurate with the work (Basu & Sheets, 2025).

Competitive pay also acts as a signal. Once people learn that emergency managers are well compensated, hold expert status, and are held to a very high standard, the perception of the profession will start to change. High-impact professionals in the military, public health, law enforcement, science, engineering, or information technology may be more likely to make a career change to EM if the pay is commensurate with their experience and leadership. If the EM field continues to offer below-market pay for the same level of work and skill, it will continue to hemorrhage its best performers to corporate and consulting jobs.

Emergency management has also suffered from a lack of public visibility. Many do not know what EM professionals do until disaster strikes. Even then, much of the credit goes to first responders and elected officials. To change perceptions of EM and attract talent, the field needs to tell its story better (Bennett, 2019). Emergency management needs to improve its public identity and workplace culture in order to attract and retain talent. Agencies can use social media, professional associations, and higher education programs to publicize EM professionals' accomplishments and innovations.

If young people see that EM experts lead disaster response and recovery, influence public policy, and build stronger, more resilient communities, they can start to consider EM as a career. The field can also launch professional branding campaigns to boost EM’s reputation as the military and public health sector have done, by showcasing EM’s work to benefit the public, climate adaptation, and humanitarian response. Although pay is an important part of recruiting, a mission-driven culture retains talent in the field. Effective emergency managers are driven by service at their core, but they also need support, respect, and a clear sense of purpose. Therefore, the field should prioritize the development of workplace cultures that value teamwork, trust, and continuous learning. Agencies also need to provide professional pathways that allow individuals to advance through the organization, rather than out of the field, by providing mentorship, advanced training, and leadership development.

If the field wants to recruit the best and brightest talent, it should not only start early, but even earlier. Waiting until undergrad or graduate school is too late. The next generation of EM professionals should be identified and inspired in high school. Emergency managers could team up with local school systems to create school-based preparedness clubs, lead disaster simulations, or build partnerships with organizations like FEMA’s Youth Preparedness Council. Outreach to high schools could introduce students to EM as an interdisciplinary field that merges leadership, science, communication, and service. Local EMAs, fire departments, and school systems could partner to offer internships, volunteer opportunities, and mentorship programs for young people. Colleges and universities could also partner with local and state agencies to create dual-enrollment or early college programs that allow students to take credits toward EM-related degrees or certificates.

Peer networks and professional support systems can also help address burnout and isolation, both of which are common in EM. Recognition programs, wellness initiatives, and leadership retreats are some strategies that could allow employees to remember what they find meaningful in their work. A culture that values innovation, creative problem-solving, and cross-disciplinary collaboration will not only retain the professionals it has but will also attract professionals from other fields looking for more purpose-driven work. One last challenge to touch on is gender imbalance in the profession. Women are still underrepresented in EM, especially in senior leadership. EM is historically male-dominated, and most of the first generation of EM workers came from fire, police, or military backgrounds. Contemporary EM is much less about command-and-control of first responders and is much more about communications, coordination, empathy, emotional intelligence, systems thinking, and multi-agency collaboration (O’Donnell, 2023)

Emergency management agencies can improve women’s recruitment and retention by identifying and addressing structural and cultural barriers that deter or prevent women from entering or remaining in the profession. Actions that agencies can take to improve recruitment and retention include, but are not limited to, removing bias in the recruitment process, providing flexible schedules for people with family care responsibilities, and visibly promoting women within the agency. Support programs, such as mentorship or sponsorship, can also be in place to help women overcome gendered barriers in the workplace. Professional organizations such as the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) and the National Emergency Managers Association (NEMA) can foster women’s participation through scholarships, leadership forums, or awards that recognize women.

Representation is also critical. Showcasing women in EM leadership on conference panels, at universities, and in job recruitment materials signals to the public that the field welcomes women and requires diverse points of view. Creating inclusive workplaces where women feel supported and respected is vital to retaining those women who do choose EM as a profession (Graham et al., 2021). Now is the time for leadership and organizations to commit fully to these measures and take deliberate action to advance gender equity in emergency management.

Universities and agencies must act now and intentionally to fortify and diversify the EM workforce to best serve all communities. This requires not just a regular and sustained investment in EM degree programs, but also a continued commitment to growing experiential learning in the field through paid internships and fellowships, and a targeted academic-to-practice pipeline to ensure all new hires are ready for day-one practice. Because the diversity of communities that make up the EM field is a strength, the profession needs to also make a concerted effort to recruit qualified professionals from historically marginalized communities (women, people of color, people with disabilities). This is both an ethical and strategic must (O’Donnell, 2023).

Inclusive hiring practices, bias training, and intentional recruiting from minority-serving institutions are only a few of the tactics that could be used in an all-encompassing effort to source a more diverse talent pool. Ensuring that promotional pathways, training opportunities, and leadership tracks are equitable is also an important step towards building a more representative workforce. Not only would this allow EM to serve the public better, it would help better reflect the communities EM has a duty to protect. High-performing professionals can also be attracted by continuing to advance the field in the ways they expect.

Younger generations have never known their industry to be anything but data-driven, tech-enabled, and future-focused (Basu & Sheets, 2025). As such, to recruit STEM talent, it is critical to demonstrate, at both the agency and university levels, how technology and innovation are immediately applicable in our field. This would help send the message that emergency management is a modernizing field that is interested in and understands what STEM professionals need and want.

Partnering with private tech companies, universities, and research institutes to drive innovation and offer professionals opportunities to work on cutting-edge projects is one way to modernize. Promoting modernization through technology and innovation also signals to high performers that EM is not outdated or off the beaten path. It is, in fact, the future of resilience. Rebuilding the EM workforce is a complex, multifaceted challenge. It will take fair compensation, inclusive recruiting, and cultural renewal. Pay must better reflect the work. We must proudly and visibly communicate the field's value to the public.

The field must be open and demonstrate career advancement and leadership opportunities for women and underrepresented groups. Young people must encounter EM as early as high school, as a vocation and not just a job. For the EM field to remain the backbone of public safety and community resilience, it must adapt and evolve to attract the best and brightest talent. Fair pay, meaningful purpose, innovation, and inclusion are the pillars of a new and improved profession capable of leading the public in the face of increasingly complex future crises with skill, empathy, and credibility.

References

Basu, R., & Sheets, T. (2025, September 11). Deloitte-NEMA National Risk Study 2025: Changing landscapes in state emergency management. Deloitte Insights. https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/government-public-sector-services/emergency-management-preparedness-response.html

Bennett, D. M. (2019). Diversity in emergency management scholarship. Journal of Emergency Management, 17(2), 148–154. https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.2019.0407

Graham, E., Ferrel, M., Wells, K., Egan, D., MacVane, C., Gisondi, M., Burns, B., Madsen, T., & Fix, M. (2021). Gender-based barriers in the advancement of women leaders in emergency medicine: A multi-institutional qualitative study. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, 22(6), 1355–1359. https://doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2021.7.52826

O’Donnell, E. (2023, May). Women in Emergency Management: Models of Leadership and Tools for Change. Harvard University Division of Continuing Education. https://dash.harvard.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/660a0906-d26a-4a15-a801-78691f59c3b6/content