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Q&A
Overview of hiring challenges and vacancy rates in city government
0:42:13
ยท
131 sec
Council Member Restler addresses the ongoing issue of vacancies in city government and asks about DCAS's strategies to combat this problem.
- Currently, there are 15,000 vacancies in city government, representing a 5% vacancy rate
- The vacancy rate has improved from 8% when Mayor Adams took office, but this is partly due to permanently cutting 10,000 positions from the budgeted headcount
- DCAS Commissioner Molina explains that they have become more agile in responding to agency needs, including flexibility in scheduling civil service exams
- DCAS is adapting to changes in the job market and evolving workforce expectations
Lincoln Restler
0:42:13
I think you have the best title in city government.
0:42:16
Right?
0:42:17
Okay.
0:42:17
We have been joined by council members Vernikov, council member Hanif online, and former GovOps chair Gail Brewer in person.
0:42:27
Alright.
0:42:27
We will shift gears to hiring unless you have questions.
0:42:29
We'll shift gears to hiring if that's okay.
0:42:34
Of course this is one of DCAS's most important functions, serving as the hiring and recruitment manager for all city agencies.
0:42:41
Our city cannot operate without hardworking civil servants and we're dependent on DCAS to ensure that we are fully staffed and able to meet expectations of New Yorkers.
0:42:49
But there are currently 15,000 vacancies in city government, a vacancy rate of about 5%.
0:42:54
Prior to the pandemic, the city vacancy rate was under 2%.
0:42:58
When mayor Adams took office, the vacancy rate was 8%.
0:43:01
So you might think that there's an improvement, but that's only because the mayor has permanently cut 10,000 positions from the budgeted headcount.
0:43:09
Adding those positions back in and the vacancy rate jumps back to 8%.
0:43:14
If this sounds familiar, it's because I raise this at every hearing.
0:43:18
We don't seem to be making progress.
0:43:21
Are you concerned about the persistent levels of vacancies in city government?
0:43:24
Is there a larger strategy on how we're going to effectively combat this?
Louis Molina
0:43:29
So thank you for the question.
0:43:30
I'll just begin before our deputy commissioner for human capital jumps in.
0:43:34
But we have been more agile to response to the needs of our agencies.
0:43:38
So, you know, we have a target of about a 85 civil service exams a year.
0:43:44
And when agencies forecast that they may have hiring issues that they project into the future, we can always add exams to those schedules.
0:43:53
In addition to that, our office of citywide recruitment helps to support recruitment efforts not only at agencies, but also to support the ongoing efforts of the hiring halls as well.
0:44:04
We are evolving with the changing landscape of today's job market, a different sort of generation of worker that wants more portability within their career, and we've been adapting to those changes.
0:44:17
With that for more technical I'll pass it over to deputy commissioner of human capital, Katrina Porter.