John,

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, city government jobs had about a 2% vacancy rate. But as of October 2022, that rate has quadrupled to 8%. But that doesn’t tell the whole story.

We took a look at the data and found that vacancy rates in key agencies and departments soared above 20% – putting the City of New York’s ability to provide crucial services at risk.

The Department of Buildings doesn’t have enough safety inspectors on staff. In the midst of a housing crisis, the agency that underwrites affordable housing deals has a 18% vacancy rate. NYC Cyber Command, which protects the City against cyberattacks, has a vacancy rate of 36%. The situation is especially dire on the Department of Social Services’ Child Support Services team, where vacancy rates in a division that fights child poverty are close to 50%.

You can read Gothamist’s latest piece on the findings of my office’s report here.

What this means is that we simply do not have the staff needed to perform the critical services that keep our city running for over 8 million residents. Hiring freezes and vacancy reductions under both the prior and the current administration have made things worse.

New York City can’t afford to lose the workers who provide essential services. That’s why my office released a report last week with recommendations for how to slash vacancy rates and get New Yorkers hired in mission critical positions. These include:

• Fast tracking the hiring process for some positions
• Allowing city agencies to offer more competitive salaries within their budgeted ranges to attract top talent
• Pinpoint which positions have high turnover and are difficult to hire for and come up with a plan to change that
• Allow hybrid work where possible
• Appoint a chief talent officer to oversee this overhaul

Turnover, burnout, and loss of talent isn’t a problem unique to the City of New York, but turning this trend around is critical for New Yorkers. Local government simply cannot deliver on the essential services we rely on without the workers who make it happen.

Thank you for reading,

Brad