New year, new staffing crisis.
Just months after resolving a critical shortage of police officers, Wilton Manors is addressing a growing issue with civilian staff. A report by Human Resources Director Dio Sanchez prepared a report that shows employee turnover spiking since the pandemic.
While the number of part-time and full-time positions has essentially remained the same, the vacancy rate is up.
In fiscal year 2019/20, turnover was 10%. For the last two years, it’s been about 22%. Sanchez says an average rate for a municipality is 12%-15%. (These numbers do not include elected officials, temps, deceased or retired persons.)
Part-time or full-time, the numbers are still high. While FTs left at a rate of about 17% the past two years, PTs left at about 35%.
Last year, about 28% were released after failing their probationary period or for performance issues. Twenty-eight percent leave for “better opportunities.” “Better opportunities” is often code for better pay and benefits.
Much like WMPD, other jurisdictions simply pay better. Also, like WMPD, the answer is money. Pay for corresponding jobs in other cities is often significantly higher. This despite the city giving higher-than-usual cost of living allowances (COLAs) and merit raises over the past couple of years.
The rate of attrition also means those that remain are doing a lot of extra work for a long time. One example is the job of finance director. The position has been vacant for the past 10 of the past 14 months. That means the Assistant Finance Director has been leading the department without the title or, presumably, the compensation.
Another issue is vacation time for management. Director and Assistant Director-level employees start like everyone else, accruing two weeks their first few years. Often that means someone with 10 years experience in a similar job and four weeks of vacation would start over like a 22-year-old right out of college.
The commission is expected to address wages again this year. For vacation time, commissioners authorized the City Manager to offer more PTO for open management positions.
Graphic from city of Wilton Manors.
