Government must be competitive to attract workers
How do you attract and keep high quality workers for mission critical positions without breaking the bank?
That is the million dollar question for members of the Taylor County board as county departments struggle to fill vacant positions amid a region-wide worker shortage and increased competition from private sector employers. Taylor County has a wage chart with each position categorized for skill level, certifi cation needs, responsibilities and other factors. Given the diverse nature of county workers, such a system makes sense as a way to ensure wages are equitable and in line with similar positions in other government agencies and in the community.
The challenge Taylor County is finding is that government work doesn’t have the same appeal as it used to. Increased demand for workers in the private sector is only one factor of this. It is further aggravated by a decade-long erosion of benefits the county and other government employers have made since Act 10 gutted government worker unions in 2011.
The law eliminated the power of the unions to negotiate over benefits and working conditions. Many government employers, including Taylor County, used the law to incrementally roll back benefits to make public employees pay larger shares of health insurance and retirement. The justification of these changes was to bring public employees more in line with what those in the private sector were paying.
On more than one occasion, the county effectively balanced its budget on the backs of county employees with benefit reduction slight of hand and furlough days to reduce payroll expenses. Beyond a feelgood mission of working to make life better for the people in your community, the historical appeal of working in a government job was its inherent stability and strong benefits. In the current climate neither of these are guaranteed as zero-increase budget after zero-increase budget have put targets firmly on the back of workers as the only place left to cut.
Without the trump cards of stability and benefits, Taylor County is being forced to play with weaker hands in the same marketplace as the private sector.
If Taylor County wants to remain competitive in getting top level workers, it needs to make an investment in its workforce, not only for future employees but for current ones as well.
Last week, members of the county’s finance and personnel committee took more than an hour to decide that it was time to do a comprehensive review of the compensation plan. The challenge is not so much in doing the study, as in knowing that it would make for some uncomfortable choices when the study is completed in December. County leaders will be faced with the challenge of deciding what they can do to remain a competitive employer versus economic realities and community needs.
While pay is only one factor in recruiting employees, for many it is the most important factor. Good will and morale doesn’t put fuel in your car or food on your table.
