Thousands of municipal jobs in the city of L.A. have gone unfilled since the end of the pandemic, with vacancy rates in some departments at double or even triple their pre-pandemic levels.
City officials chalk it up to a number of factors, including a greater number of resignations during COVID and slow hiring practices. The result: Angelenos are frustrated by response times for city services, and city workers are stressed out by higher workloads and, in some instances, mandatory overtime.
“Across the city, we are finding that because of our vacancy rates, we are providing less than the service that we should be providing to our constituents,” said City Councilmember Tim McOsker, who chairs the council’s Personnel, Audits and Hiring Committee.
Some of those vacancy rates are startling. A decade ago, the vacancy rate for city jobs was 10%, excluding the Department of Water and Power, L.A. World Airports, and the Harbor Department. Just before the pandemic, it was 11%.
Today, there is a 17.4% vacancy rate citywide, or 9,786 unfilled positions, according to a September report by L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia.
It’s even worse in some departments. The Bureau of Street Lighting faces a 32% rate, the Recreation and Parks Department has a 23% rate and the Sanitation Department has a 21% rate. Sanitation alone has more than 800 unfilled jobs.
Mejia’s report called it “a growing crisis that affects every Angeleno’s safety and well-being,” adding that the staffing shortage is “chronic and rampant.”
Mayor Karen Bass admits the vacancy rate is a problem. “You call up and you want something picked up and you wonder why it takes so long —…
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