One in five state employee jobs are vacant. The reason – and the effects – are obvious | Opinion

One of Gov.-elect Josh Stein’s priorities upon taking office should be to fill crippling gaps in the state employee workforce.

After years of the Republican-controlled legislature handing out stingy raises and short-term bonuses, state employees’ inflation-adjusted pay has decreased, benefits have eroded and job vacancies have soared.

Republican lawmakers, many of whom think less is more when it comes to state government, are content to accept a chronic shortage of state workers. Instead of providing money to keep state employee compensation competitive, Republicans have stuffed surplus revenues into reserve funds and used the savings on employee salaries to offset the cost of tax cuts.

Since 2014, average pay increases for the state’s more than 71,000 employees have lagged behind increases in the general labor market by 9.45 percent, according to a report from the Office of State Human Resources. Meanwhile, over the same period, state employees’ pay has lagged behind inflation by 5.9 percent.

Shrinking pay has led to a shrinking workforce. The overall vacancy rate is 20 percent, or 14,700 unfilled jobs. At the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and state Department of Adult Correction, it’s even worse — one in four jobs are vacant.

Mark Benton, chief deputy secretary for health services at DHHS, said the high number of vacancies impedes vital services.

At the state’s three psychiatric hospitals, he said, 300 beds are left empty for lack of staff to treat patients. Meanwhile, the state’s ability to inspect some 20,000 health care facilities and respond to complaints about safety and neglect are falling behind.

“Because we are struggling with staffing, we are not able to inspect at the same cadence that we would like to and we are also struggling to stay ahead of our complaints investigations,” Benton said.

Lack of staff at DHHS is also delaying autopsies by the NC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the processing of birth and death certificates. Vacancies also hinder service at the Division of Motor Vehicles and slow the operation of the state Crime Lab, where positions have long been vacant.

At the state Department of Agriculture, inspections are also lagging because of vacancies.

“It’s a compounding thing. We have vacant positions and more places to inspect over the years. It’s working hard against us,” said David Smith, the department’s chief deputy commissioner.

Smith, who is the department’s longest serving employee, said low pay has made hiring difficult.

“During 52 years with the department, I’ve never experienced anything like the last few years,” he said. “You get no applicants or two or three. Applicants ghost you.”

Low pay is only part of the problem. Benefits are also shrinking. The legislature eliminated health insurance after retirement for employees hired after 2021. The state’s contribution to family health insurance is among the lowest in the Southeast. And retirees have seen the value of their pensions reduced as the legislature has failed to provide regular cost of living increases.

Ardis Watkins, executive director of the State Employees Association of North Carolina, said state jobs historically have paid less than similar jobs in the private sector, but state benefits used to offset the gap. “The old adage was that the pay would not be great but the benefits would be. That’s no longer true,” she said.

A shortage of state employees is not a high-profile issue, Watkins said, but “it affects more people than any other problem I can think of.”

A solution should begin with the new governor. Stein should rally Republican and Democratic Council of State members to collectively press the legislature to improve pay and benefits for state employees.

Winnowing the ranks of state employees by denying adequate pay does not make the government somehow leaner and more efficient. It only makes the vulnerable more so and denies taxpayers the level of service they expect and deserve.

This story was originally published December 30, 2024 at 4:00 AM.