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Q&A
City staffing levels and impact of the two-for-one hiring freeze
0:44:52
ยท
3 min
Speaker Adams questions the rationale for maintaining the two-for-one hiring freeze, given its negative impact on agency services. Director Jiha explains that the freeze is necessary due to budgetary savings embedded in the current plan.
- The city's current full-time headcount is over 286,000, a 5.3% reduction from pre-pandemic levels
- Some critical positions are exempt from the two-for-one hiring policy
- The hiring freeze is expected to generate $61 million in savings in the current fiscal year, with potential for an additional $200 million if current vacancies remain unfilled
- Agencies often use a portion of these savings to offset overspending in other areas
Adrienne Adams
0:44:52
Okay.
0:44:52
Director Jihao, let's talk about staffing.
0:44:55
Let's talk about headcount and hiring freeze then.
0:44:57
You're you're leading me right there.
0:44:58
It's been over a year since the mayor relaxed the hiring freeze that was in place at the time and replaced it with a two for one hiring freeze.
0:45:06
The city's current actual full time headcount is slightly over 286,000, a 5.3% reduction from the headcount level just before the COVID pandemic.
0:45:17
In that same period, the city's budgeted full time headcount declined by only 1.9%.
0:45:23
It's obvious that the hiring freezes are negatively affecting, as you're just saying, are negatively affecting agency abilities to provide necessary services such as the processing of benefits, paying invoices to DOE contracted childcare providers, and issuing payments to our nonprofit contract providers, and as you are stating in your testimony this morning as well.
0:45:46
Seemingly, you haven't seen the need to initiate a full scale peg in over a year.
0:45:51
What is the rationale for leaving the hiring freeze in place when you have just testified that we do have a need for headcount to accelerate?
0:46:01
So what is the rationale for leaving the hiring freeze in place?
Jacques Jiha
0:46:05
The let's one thing.
0:46:07
It's those positions that I just refer are exempt from the two for one policy that we have in place.
0:46:16
So that's you know, this is this has nothing to do same thing with cash processing for for cash assistance.
0:46:25
All these positions are exempt from the hiring freeze.
0:46:28
So it's not because there's a hiring freeze that they cannot hire.
0:46:31
It's just the challenges that they have to face in terms of recruiting people.
0:46:36
That's the to begin with.
0:46:39
It comes to the question about why the two four one is still in place, it's because simply because the plan we currently have, basically, embedded within the plan are savings from the two four one.
0:46:49
Is you would just just we don't just announce a policy and that the revenue is generated.
0:46:53
You you announce a policy, you put it in place, okay, and that's how you build the savings within the plan.
0:46:59
So if you don't have those policies in place, you're gonna have to remove those savings from the plan.
0:47:04
Okay?
0:47:04
And at this moment in time, the city cannot afford to do this.
Adrienne Adams
0:47:09
What is the estimated budgetary savings from the existing hiring freeze in fiscal year twenty twenty five?
Jacques Jiha
0:47:18
Currently, I believe we have $61,000,000,000 already in November and January plan.
0:47:25
And for the rest of the year, assuming that the vacancies that we have currently are not filled, you're talking about another $200,000,000.
0:47:35
But bear in mind that what very often what happen is the agencies overspend their budget, so therefore they use a portion of those, you know, savings basically to offset whatever overspending that they do have.
Adrienne Adams
0:47:50
What is the total value of PS accruals in the current year, and when do you expect to account for these accruals?
Jacques Jiha
0:47:56
This is what I said.
0:47:56
For the rest of the year, assuming between now and the rest of the year, you're talking about another $220,000,000, that's what it is, Ken?
0:48:02
About $220,000,000, the value.
0:48:05
But again, as I said, we don't know for sure what's gonna be the net value because, as I said, the agencies very often overspend their budget, and so therefore, they use a portion of those savings to offset the the overspending.