City staffing levels have rebounded, but some agencies are still behind: report

Although the number of municipal employees has rebounded since the pandemic, some city agencies continue to endure staffing reductions, according to a new report from the Independent Budget Office.

For years, the number of full-time city workers steadily increased, growing from 271,000 in 2007 to 285,000 in 2016. At its peak, the city workforce reached 301,000 employees in July 2020, according to the IBO’s report.

But staffing levels began to decline in 2021, with the period between October and December 2021 marking the largest quarterly drop in the size of the municipal workforce in recent years. Staffing levels dropped by nearly 2 percent — or about 5,600 city workers — which the IBO attributed to the vaccine mandate announced by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio, as well as return-to-office directives. The IBO found that the number of retirements during this period increased 34 percent, while terminations were 50 percent higher than normal. 

The city’s efforts to fill vacancies — including several hiring halls held during the summer of 2023 — resulted in the largest quarterly increase in staffing levels between July and September of that year. Staffing levels increased by 3,200 workers during this period, marking a 1.2 percent increase in employees. As of this past January, the number of full-time municipal workers has returned to 2016 levels, standing at about 285,000, which the IBO stated was “in line with historical trends.” 

The number of employees leaving their jobs also returned to 2020 levels by October 2024.

Bob Croghan, chair of the Organization of Staff Analysts, said that while some agencies were sufficiently staffed, others are still struggling. The Adams administration has received scrutiny, particularly from the City Council, for not being able to fill vacancies that affect important services such as restaurant inspections.

The Administration for Children’s Services has seen its headcount decline by nearly 10 percent since July 2019, dropping from 7,131 employees to 6,452 workers as of January. In particular, the number of child protective specialists fell by 358 employees, or 16 percent, by June 2023. Although the number of CPS has increased by 7 percent since then, the title still had 223 fewer employees compared to its July 2019 staffing levels.

“I myself was an ACS worker, so I’m very aware that the agency is a very staff-sensitive agency,” Croghan said during a recent phone interview. “It’s a very tough agency to staff and it’s very tough to retain staff because of the pressures involved.”

The Department of Correction saw the largest decline in headcount, at 38 percent. The number of correction officers employed at the agency has dropped 41 percent since July 2019, as the jail population has also declined.

Staffing levels at the Taxi and Limousine Commission have decreased by 31 percent, with the number of inspectors and community associates each about half of what they were in 2019.

The Department of Probation and the Department of Homeless Services also saw large declines, losing 24 and 23 percent of their employees, respectively. The report found that the probation officer headcount in particular declined by 32 percent, while the number of special officers at DHS declined by 258 employees, or 46 percent.

The decline in DHS staffers was notable given that shelters have been used to house migrants, whose numbers surged starting in the spring of 2022.

“Obviously DHS has undergone additional stresses because of all of the people showing up from other countries. So there’s been a spike in demand,” Croghan said.

At the Law Department, which saw a 19 percent decline in overall staffing levels, the number of assistant corporation counsels experienced both sharp increases and declines in the years since the pandemic. The headcount of assistant corporation counsels actually increased by 24 percent between July 2019 and June 2021, before declining 20 percent through this past January.

Over the past few years, the city has held several hiring halls to fill vacancies. But Croghan noted that another issue is the approval process from the city’s Office of Management and Budget, which can delay new hires from being approved for a job for weeks and months.

“We’ve had a terrible, terrible problem with OMB, to the extent that they do not onboard people who have been approved,” he said. “This is a very long-term problem since the pandemic. We want people hired on a probable permanent basis and all of this is being held up by OMB.”

But the report also found that some agencies have also seen their headcounts grow since the pandemic. The number of workers at the Department of Parks and Recreation has increased by 10 percent, which the IBO attributed to a 50 percent increase in city park workers, who saw their ranks grow by 328 employees. The number of park supervisors also grew by 14 percent during this period.

A 9-percent increase in employees at the Department of Youth and Community Development could be attributed to community coordinator staffing levels growing by 177 percent. The number of community coordinators grew by more than 100 workers between July 2024 and this past January.

clewis@thechiefleader.com