Finance and Management Committee
April 11, 2022
RECOMMENDATION
AGENDA REPORT
Staff Recommends That The City Council Receive An Informational Report From The City Administrator Regarding:
1) The Vacancy Rate, Salary Schedule, And Total Number Of Budgeted And Vacant Positions For Each Classification In The Departments Of Transportation, Planning And Building, And Public Works By Department; And
2) The Classification Level Vacancy Rates Of Similar Departments Of Local Public Entities And Special Districts; And
3) For Classifications In Oakland With A Vacancy Rate Of More Than 20%, Salary Schedules For Similar Classifications Of Local Public Entities And Special Districts; And 4) Which Vacancies Have The Greatest Impact On Each Department.
REASON FOR SUPPLEMENTAL
This supplemental report provides additional information that was requested by the Finance & Management Committee at its February 7, 2022, meeting.
1. What efforts are being taken to increase community outreach in highly underemployed areas?
Human Resources Management (HRM) performs outreach by attending job fairs, community events, program workshops and social media and email campaigns. Examples of some of the events HRM has attended include the East Oakland Job Fair, Laney and Merritt College Career Days, Job Corps Job Fair, Chinatown Street Festival, Akoma Market (QR Code in jobs booth), Fruitvale Dia de los Muertos, and the Rubicon Programs Job Club.
The City regularly posts jobs on its social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Nextdoor. In addition, a weekly email with job opportunities is sent to a distribution list of community-based, governmental and non-profit agencies including Family Bridges, Volunteers of America, East Bay Asian Youth Center, Civicorps, California EDD and Rubicon Programs.
TO: Edward D. Reiskin FROM: Ian Appleyard
City Administrator HRM Director
SUBJECT: SUPPLEMENTAL – Vacancy Rate
Report
DATE: March 14, 2022
City Administrator Approval Date: Mar 28, 2022
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: SUPPLEMENTAL – Vacancy Rate Report
Date: March 14, 2022 Page 2
Finance and Management Committee
April 11, 2022
While physical attendance at job fairs and community events has decreased during the pandemic, HRM anticipates additional in-person events will occur during this calendar year. In addition, members of the HRM recruitment team formed an outreach group that was previously approved but delayed due to the pandemic.
Additionally, the City employs many Temporary Part-Time employees who are majority Oakland residents. These entry-level positions are not covered by Civil Service and can be hired more quickly. Often, these hires at Oakland Parks and Recreation Youth Development (OPRYD), Oakland Public Works and Oakland Public Library (OPL) can be a stepping stone to full-time employment with the City.
What is not listed above are the Economic and Workforce Development Department’s efforts to promote youth employment and their partnerships with of community groups, including Civicorps, Lao Family Community Development, The Unity Council, and Youth Employment Partnership.
2. Status update on how off-site cannabis use relates to Hiring
The City administers drug testing in conformance with applicable City ordinances and within state and federal regulations. The applicable administrative instruction is being updated to incorporate the City’s new ordinance. There are no impacts or impediments to hiring or filling positions due to off-site cannabis use.
3. Break down of exit strategy to help improve retention
Human Resources Management, in conjunction with other City departments, has developed an off-boarding guide that has been widely distributed. This guide provides a conversation guide, exit interview, and checklist to collect valuable feedback and assist with the transfer of knowledge. A copy of the guide is provided in Attachment I.
In addition to improving organizational effectiveness by gathering off-boarding data, the City provides generous benefits and growth opportunities:
• Alternate Work Schedules and Telecommute Options
• Robust Health Benefits
• Oakland ROCKS, an employee-driven team focused on employee appreciation, recognition, and staff pride
• Opportunities for Advancement (In FY 20-21 58% of FT/PPT positions were filled from within)
• An Expanding and Growing Citywide Training Program
4. Request to separate the Attachments in the report and include in the vacancy reports going forward Attachment D - Classifications with 5 or more positions and over 20%
These attachments have been separated.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: SUPPLEMENTAL – Vacancy Rate Report
Date: March 14, 2022 Page 3
Finance and Management Committee
April 11, 2022
5. Analysis on Cash hiring incentives compared to surrounding cities.
Table 1 shows the results of hiring incentives provided by Oakland’s comparator agencies. Most jurisdictions do not provide incentives.
Table 1: Regional Hiring Incentive Survey
Agency Incentive Description
Alameda County Various health care positions in the Jail Deputy Sheriff Recruit $10k over four years
Deputy Sheriff I $12k over four years
Deputy Sheriff II $14k over four years
Berkeley No incentive
Concord Police Lateral: Signing Bonus of $10,000, paid out as follows: 50% ($5,000) payable upon satisfactory completion of the required probationary period, and 50% ($5,000) payable upon three (3) years of continuous service.
Fremont Police Officer: Current employees are eligible to receive $350 for referring a candidate that attends the academy and another $350 if they complete probation.
Hayward No incentive
Richmond No incentive
San Francisco No incentive
San Jose No response
Vallejo No response
6. What is the goal, break down and timeline to fill vacancies
Since the number of vacancies exceeds the City’s recruitment capacity, HRM works closely with departments and the City Administrator’s Office to establish recruitment priorities. Once a recruitment is assigned to staff, the goal is to generate an eligible list within 120-days. Many factors go into this timeline including posting the job announcement, receiving and screening applicants, conducting and scoring the competitive examinations, and finalizing the eligible lists.
Currently, the City has 41 classifications open for recruitment, some with closing dates and others open on a continuous basis. There can be many positions tied to one classification and it is estimated the City is currently recruiting for approximately 150 positions.
While the goal is to generate an eligible list within 120 days, several factors can negatively impact that goal, including:
• HRM Staffing: Until recently, HRM had five vacant recruitment Analyst positions, two of which were frozen. Three of the five have recently been filled and two additional positions will be filled in April. The new Analysts will not have an impact in the short term due to training but will ultimately increase HRM’s recruitment capacity. • S
ecuring Assessors for Scoring Examinations: Scoring Civil Service examinations relies heavily on the use of internal and external Subject Matter Experts. External experts are particularly desirable since they bring increased objectivity to the testing process. Yet, Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: SUPPLEMENTAL – Vacancy Rate Report
Date: March 14, 2022 Page 4
Finance and Management Committee
April 11, 2022
these experts are in high demand and can also negatively impact the timeline for recruitments.
• Reduced Number of Applicants: As reported in previous Staffing Reports, there has been a trend of decreased applicants for public-sector positions both regionally and nationally. In Oakland, HRM received 43% fewer applications in FY 20-21 than in FY 19-
20. Projections for FY 21-22 are somewhat better; however, still 20% below FY 19-20.
The impacts of fewer applicants include extended job announcement periods, delayed testing and eligible lists with fewer candidates than the number of vacancies. Overall, this requires recruitments for certain classifications to occur more frequently. Table 2 shows the number of applicants received by regional county governments. The clear trend is there are less applicants for public sector positions.
Table 2: Regional Number of Applicants
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
County of Alameda 21,709 25,579 22,502 15,132 10,800
County of Contra Costa 33,048 32,769 33,260
County of Santa Clara 112,923 101,232 97,000 86,164
County of San Mateo 17,025 19,538 18,117 13,510 13,198
City of Oakland 14,161 14,103 8,032
County of Napa 7,911 6,396 6,493 4,382 5,488
• Non-responsive candidates: In addition to an overall reduced number of applicants, those that do apply are not responding to additional steps of the hiring process. There has been a notable increase in candidates not responding to examination invitations, not attending scheduled examinations, not responding to requests for hiring interviews or not attending interviews after confirming availability. This factor exacerbates the ability to produce robust eligible lists and fill vacancies.
• Labor
Agreement Obligations : While there is discretion in establishing non-public safety examination priorities, there is less flexibility about public safety recruitments due to strict timeline requirements. The Police and Fire labor contracts require a tremendous amount of coordination between the departments, HRM staff and outside test vendors. Many of the examinations require at least two Analysts, which reduces availability to conduct other examinations. The addition of new HR Analysts will provide much-needed relief; however, the promotional examinations are still very demanding and divert HRM staff resources away from recruitment and classification activities for other departments.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: SUPPLEMENTAL – Vacancy Rate Report
Date: March 14, 2022 Page 5
Finance and Management Committee
April 11, 2022
7. What are the Attrition Rates for departments
Table 3 provides attrition rates for the current Fiscal Year as of March 11, 2022.
Table 3 - Attrition Rates by Department
Department
Total
Department
FT & PPT
FTE Filled
July 1, 2021 - March 1, 2022
FT & PPT Separations
FY 20-21
Attrition
Rate (all
separations) Total
Separations
Retirements
Resignations
Police 1,038.00 108 37 71 10.1%
Public Works 506.11 37 21 16 6.2%
Fire 549 31 20 11 6.3%
Transportation 250.65 20 10 10 10.1%
Human Services 149.76 20 7 13 8.3%
Library 176.4 19 7 12 6.5%
Planning &
Building 154 9 3 6 10.6%
8. Data analysis of the Oakland Coliseum Job Fair
Two members of HRM attended the East Bay Job Fair & Expo held on December 2, 2021 at RingCentral Coliseum. Staff reported they had approximately 100 visitors to the Oakland Human Resources table. There is no available analysis as to how many of those that visited the table applied for jobs or attained employment as that specific data is not collected within the Applicant Tracking System used by HRM.
9. Analysis of strategic recruiting efforts and partnering on specific job training programs; and
In addition to the response in Item #1, HRM has met with staff from the Economic and Workforce Development Department to discuss filling positions through the Summer Youth Jobs Program and to expand opportunities for HRM to work with the Workforce Development Board to present available jobs and workshops to enhance skills of potential applicants throughout the community.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: SUPPLEMENTAL – Vacancy Rate Report
Date: March 14, 2022 Page 6
Finance and Management Committee
April 11, 2022
10. Any additional information not previously included
Table 4 shows the complete survey data from requested regional agencies. The source of the Oakland data is the November 2021 Semi-Annual Staffing report. In comparing Oakland’s rates to other jurisdictions, it appears Oakland’s rate is high for Planning and Building departments and comparable for both Transportation and Public Works departments. For the overall vacancy rate, Oakland is also comparable to the agencies that responded (Hayward, East Bay Municipal Utility District, East Bay Regional Parks and Vallejo). If a cell has “NA,” that means the information was not available.
Table 4: Regional Departmental & Overall Vacancy Rates
San Jose San Fran Berk Concord Hayward EBMUD Fremont Richmond EBParks Vallejo Oakland Planning and Building 15.48% 13.91% 24.56% 8.60% NA NA 15.90% 8.33% NA 12.50% 21.34% Transportation 17.47% 11.90% 33.30% 16.66% NA NA NA NA NA NA 17.68% Public Works 25.40% 26.32% 14.67% 19.73% NA NA 10.23% 17.26% NA 20.00% 17.82% Overall Vacancy Rate NA NA NA NA 14.80% 12.00% NA 16.15% 11.03% 28.48% 12.03%
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Receive An Informational Report From The City Administrator Regarding:
1) The Vacancy Rate, Salary Schedule, And Total Number Of Budgeted And Vacant Positions For Each Classification In The Departments Of Transportation, Planning And Building, And Public Works By Department; And
2) The Classification Level Vacancy Rates Of Similar Departments Of Local Public Entities And Special Districts; And
3) For Classifications In Oakland With A Vacancy Rate Of More Than 20%, Salary Schedules For Similar Classifications Of Local Public Entities And Special Districts; And 4) Which Vacancies Have The Greatest Impact On Each Department.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: SUPPLEMENTAL – Vacancy Rate Report
Date: March 14, 2022 Page 7
Finance and Management Committee
April 11, 2022
For questions regarding this report, please contact Ian Appleyard, Human Resources Director, at (510) 238-6450
Respectfully submitted,
IAN APPLEYARD
Human Resources Director
Attachments (9):
A. City of Oakland Salary Ordinance
B. Links to Salary Schedules for Local Public Entities and Special Districts C. January 2022 Position Control Report all Departments D. List of Classifications with over 20% Vacancies for all Departments E. Total Number of Budgeted and Vacant Positions for each Classification in the Department of Transportation
F. Total Number of Budgeted and Vacant Positions for each Classification in the Public Works Department
G. Total number of Budgeted and Vacant Positions for each Classification in the Planning and Building Department
H. City-wide Frozen Positions by Department and Position I. Offboarding Guide