NC faces a critical shortage of public workers. Better pay and more respect could fix it.
President Ronald Reagan famously said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
Funny guy, that Ronnie. But here are nine words that are scarier: “I called 911 and no one answered the phone.”
Some people think they don’t need government – until they do. In North Carolina and around the nation, more people will be finding out how much they need it when government services slow or are suspended.
While a worker shortage is affecting the private, it is growing acute among governments from the local to federal levels. In the private sector, not enough cooks and wait staff may affect restaurant service, but a dinner out is not essential while government services often are.
Suzanne Beasley, government relations director at the State Employees Association of N.C., said a shortage of state employees is growing more urgent as higher wages offered by private employers lure public employees away.
“It’s happening every day. People aren’t staying,” she said. “There are not enough people to take care of everybody.”
The News & Observer’s Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan recently reported on the shortage of state employees. The vacancy rate among employees of state agencies is now 21 percent, up from 12 percent three years ago. The headcount has dropped to 57,200 from 61,800 in April 2020.
Ronnie Condrey of the North Carolina Office of State Human Resources said the churn is taking a high toll. I This year the turnover rate for new employees has climbed to 39 percent. “That’s a huge, huge problem for the state,” he said. “We spend a lot of time training people and they turn around and use that elsewhere.”
Like much of the nation, North Carolina now faces a lack of teachers, police officers, corrections officers, sanitation workers, bus drivers, lifeguards, health care workers, and, yes, 911 operators.
The city employee vacancy rate in Raleigh is 17 percent and in Durham it is 15.5 percent. Charlotte reports a 12 percent shortage of skilled craft workers, such as equipment operators and maintenance technicians.
Among private employers, the free market will eventually resolve the worker shortage by boosting pay, a trend that’s already occurring among many hourly wage earners.
But governments face a more complicated problem. Traditionally, public employees made less than their private sector counterparts, but they enjoyed greater job security and attractive benefits, including low health care insurance premiums and better pensions.
Higher health care insurance costs and the erosion of pensions by inflation have diminished the advantage of public employment. Meanwhile, younger workers tend to be more nomadic. Few expect or want to work for the same employer for 25 or 30 years anymore.
There’s also the looming problem of an aging public workforce. Over the next five years, Condrey said, 25 percent of state employees will be eligible for retirement with a full pension.
The legislature has approved increasing state employee pay by 5 percent over two years and Gov. Roy Cooper has asked for another 2.5 boost in the second year. Local governments are also rushing to pay more, especially for police officers.
But these increases are still short of inflation and the pay hikes being offered by private employers. To truly stem the loss of public employees, the public needs to address the deficit suggested by Reagan’s comment – a lack of respect.
Lawmakers and leaders outside of government should push back against the notion that government is the problem and, by extension, government employees are as well.
Public service is noble work at all levels. Taxpayers should be willing to pay what that’s worth and include the bonuses of appreciation and respect.