LOS ANGELES - With 21 percent of its municipal jobs vacant across city departments, Los Angeles is in the middle of a hiring crisis. Today, City Councilmember Tim McOsker introduced a motion to create an incentive program to address the city’s staffing shortages.
“If you have high vacancy rates at a department such as Public Works, it’s going to take longer to get a pothole filled or for the Transportation Department it might take longer to get stop signs approved,” said Councilmember McOsker. “These are the basic functions of our government that we are having a hard time performing because of this shortage. These are good jobs with benefits and if we need to make working for the city more attractive with incentives, that is what we need to do.”
The City of Los Angeles’ worker shortage limits the city’s ability to perform essential functions and deliver basic city services to residents. McOsker’s motion requests a report of the city’s vacancy rate in each department citywide to understand the full scope of the city’s hiring needs.
“City workers make LA run, but right now we’re in a hiring crisis,” said Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who seconded the motion. “This motion will make it easier to find and hire the people who give Angelenos the services they deserve.”
Currently, the City has programs such as Targeted Local Hire and Bridge to Jobs, which have proven to be successful. These programs are efforts to help under-served and under-employed populations find an alternative pathway to Civil Service careers with the City of Los Angeles.
“As we continue to recover from the pandemic, now is the time to look for creative ways to fill vacancies within the City family,” said Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who also seconded the motion. “As Chair of the Budget and Finance and Innovation Committee, this is an issue I will be bringing up to department heads and I thank Councilmember Tim McOsker for his partnership.”
Last week, the Public Safety Committee approved a Hiring Bonus Plan for the Los Angeles Police Department to incentivize new and lateral hires and retain personnel. These incentives include $5,000 for new hires for entering the academy, for completion, and for 3 years of service. The motion still needs to be approved by the full City Council.
Many agencies have adjusted their recruitment initiatives after they found that offering a hiring bonus provided them with a competitive advantage in this labor market. The motion looks to incentivize hiring through a financial proposal in other city departments that have stark vacancy rates.
The motion instructs the Personnel Department and the City Administrative Officer to report on ways to establish an incentive program, prioritizing departments with the highest vacancy rates, and report on potential funding for this incentive program in the upcoming Fiscal Year.
The motion will next go to the Personnel, Audits, and Hiring Committee which McOsker serves as Chair.
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