This Is Where People Analytics Is a ‘Must-Have’ Rather Than a ‘Nice-To-Have’

Analytics of the people, by the people, for the people

• People analytics roles in the federal government have recently grown at modest but stable rates, reflecting budget stability and a focus on data-driven workforce planning, even as private sector demand has declined amid rising interest rates.
• Federal government people analytics practitioners are more likely to hold advanced degrees, supporting the public sector’s focus on long-term, research-intensive projects, unlike the private sector’s focus on immediate ROI.
• People analytics practitioners in government rely heavily on advanced technical skills, such as data analysis and interdisciplinary research, due to the focus on regulatory compliance and large-scale data-driven decision-making.

Examining the history and foundations of people analytics reveals that its roots lay in fields like applied social psychology, sociology, and industrial-organizational psychology. Many early psychological experiments took place in federal settings, such as the U.S. Army’s Alpha and Beta aptitude tests developed during World War I. While the formal title "People Analytics" is relatively recent, the federal government has long had roles that rely on core people analytics principles. Public and private sector roles are shaped by distinct market conditions: Private sector roles respond to market dynamics, whereas public sector roles depend on approved federal funding. Consequently, people analytics roles in government often show trends that differ from those in the profit-driven private sector. Motivated by our previous newsletter on people analytics positions in the private sector, and in collaboration with Cole Napper and Kristin Saboe, we explore the evolution of people analytics roles within the U.S. federal government and draw comparisons to trends in the private sector.

Using Revelio Labs’ HR data, we analyze U.S. federal government positions with titles containing keywords like Operations Research and Systems Analyst (ORSA), Research Psychologist, Personnel Psychologist, Personnel Analyst, Human Performance Research, Personnel Research, and Industrial and Organizational (I/O) Psychologist. In total, we identify approximately 2,100 people analytics roles within the U.S. federal government in 2024. While the private sector saw a 20% growth in people analytics positions around 2012, the federal government’s growth was more subdued, plateauing with minimal change.

However, recent economic shifts reveal an interesting dynamic. As interest rates rose and the labor market cooled, the private sector curbed its expansion of people analytics roles, and in the past year has decreased the size of the people analytics workforce. In contrast, the federal government saw a modest increase in these roles, driven by the stability of public sector budgets and the need for data-driven strategies to address workforce planning in a tighter job market. This uptick aligns with broader economic conditions: As businesses pull back on hiring amid rising costs, government jobs gain appeal due to their stability, thus increasing people analytics opportunities within federal agencies.

Read full story here.

Many thanks,

Jin Yan | Senior Economist Revelio Labs ,

in collaboration with Cole Napper and Kristin Saboe, Ph.D.