Finance and Management Committee
June 27, 2023
AGENDA REPORT
TO : Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Ian Appleyard
City Administrator Human Resources Director
SUBJECT: Semi-Annual Staffing Report June
2023
DATE: May 27 , 2023
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Receive A Semi-Annual Informational Report On City-Wide Staffing From The City Administrator Regarding (1) The Vacancy Rates Of All City Departments Through May 1, 2023, (2) The Vacancy Rates of Regional Local Public Entities, (3) The Analysis Of The City Workforce And Recruitment Conditions, And (4) The Budgeted Vacancy Rate For The Fiscal Year 2023/24.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This informational report provides an update on city-wide staffing as of May 1, 2023. On this date, there were 5,007.24 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) budgeted positions with 944.01 FTE positions vacant, resulting in an 18.85 percent vacancy rate. Significantly, 277.04 positions were added to the City Budget as part of the 22/23 Mid-Cycle Budget, representing the largest increase in over 15 years and contributing to a high vacancy rate.
This report analyzes the status of each full-time and permanent part-time vacancy by department Attachment A and a listing of positions that were frozen as of May 1, 2023 Attachment B . Frozen positions increased from 144.20 in December 2022 to 192.20 FTE in May 2023, due to the selective hiring freeze, which is a 33% increase. Removing the frozen positions reduces the vacancies to 751.81 FTE and the vacancy rate to 15.01 percent.
As of May 1, 2023, there were 944.01 FTE positions vacant citywide with 140.66 FTE encumbered as described below. Removing the encumbered positions reduces the vacancies to 803.35 FTE and the vacancy rate to 16.04 percent.
Removing both the encumbered and frozen positions reduces the vacancies to 611.15 and the vacancy rate to 12.20 percent.
The Department of Human Resources Management’s (DHRM) recruitment priorities are coordinated with City departments and, on occasion, set by the City Administrator’s Office. In some instances, high-priority recruitments do not correlate to high-volume recruitments and may not reduce the overall vacancy rate.
Jestin Johnson (Jun 8, 2023 18:56 PDT)
Jestin Johnson
Jun 8, 2023
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Semi-Annual Staffing Report June 2023
Date: May 27, 2023
Finance and Management Committee
June 27, 2023
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
DHRM provides this semi-annual report to the Finance and Management Committee. This report examines full-time and permanent part-time vacancy data, as provided by departments, as of May 1, 2023. Additionally, this report analyzes several key organizational staffing elements, including recruitment process improvements, community recruitment efforts, unemployment rates, retention rates, and employee tenure.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Vacancies
For the purposes of this report, vacancies are described as non-encumbered and encumbered . A non-encumbered position is available to be filled and not linked for any other purpose. An encumbered position is linked to other funding, such as overtime, temporary staffing, or acting assignments.
As of May 1, 2023, there were 944.01 FTE positions vacant citywide with 140.66 FTE encumbered as described above. Removing the encumbered positions reduces the vacancies to 803.35 FTE and the vacancy rate to 16.69 percent.
As of May 1, 2023, there were 192.20 frozen positions as compared to 144.20 in December 2022, which is an increase of 33 percent. This is due to the March 15, 2023, declaration of a partial hiring freeze for all positions tied to the General Purpose Fund. Removing both the encumbered and frozen positions reduces the total available vacancies to 611.15 and the vacancy rate to 12.20 percent.
Budgeted Vacancy Rate for Fiscal Year 2022/23
The “budgetary vacancy factor,” is distinct from the “vacancy rate.” The "budgetary vacancy factor" is a negative percentage applied to all positions, which reduces the cost of each, to account for cost savings that are anticipated from vacant positions through the fiscal year. The "budgetary vacancy factor is fixed in the Adopted Budget and applied to the various departments. Historically, the budgeted vacancy factor has been 4.0% for most departments. In the 2022-23 Adopted Budget, however, the Citywide vacancy factor was set at 10.25% for most City Departments to account for the anticipated vacancies over the Fiscal Year.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Semi-Annual Staffing Report June 2023
Date: May 27, 2023
Finance and Management Committee
June 27, 2023
Vacancy Rates of All City Departments
Table 1 below shows all vacant positions (encumbered and non-encumbered), which results in the current 18.85 percent vacancy rate. Table 2 shows only non-encumbered positions, resulting in a 16.04 percent vacancy rate.
Table 1: Citywide Vacancy Summary
Type All
Positions
Vacant % Vacant
Total Sworn 1553.00 140.00 9.01%
Total Miscellaneous 3454.24 804.01 23.27%
Total 5007.24 944.01 18.85%
Table 2: Citywide Vacancy Summary (Encumbered removed ) Type All
Positions
Vacant % Vacant
Total Sworn 1553.00 93.00 5.98%
Total Miscellaneous 3454.24 710.35 20.56%
Total 5007.24 803.35 16.04%
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Semi-Annual Staffing Report June 2023
Date: May 27, 2023
Finance and Management Committee
June 27, 2023
Table 3 shows the historical vacancy rates, for both all vacancies and non-encumbered vacancies since May 2012. Since 2013, the City has added an average of 80.48 FTE every fiscal year . For the fiscal year 2022, 277.04 positions were added to the Position Control Report . This large increase in budgeted positions has significantly impacted the current vacancy rate for all positions.
Table 3: Historical Vacancy Rates
Report
Date
# of
budgeted
positions
# non-
encumbered
vacancies
Non-
encumbered
% Vacant
All
Vacancies
All Vacancies
% Vacant
5/1/2023 5007.24 803.35 16.04% 944.01 18.85%
12/13/2022
Positions added:
5,004.84
+277.04
835.35 16.69% 951.41 19.00%
5/2/2022 4,727.80 736.14 15.57% 772.14 16.33%
11/2/2021
Positions added:
4,704.43
+118.42
566.05 12.03% 584.25 12.42%
5/4/2021 4,586.01 471.27 10.27% 542.92 11.83%
12/1/2020
Positions added:
4,589.43
+57.91
584.02 12.72% 686.52 14.96%
5/12/2020 4,531.52 496.16 10.95% 564.56 12.46%
11/12/2019
Positions added:
4,533.21
+78.04
535.73 11.82% 595.83 13.14%
5/14/2019 4,455.17 556.85 12.50% 645.66 14.49%
11/13/2018
Positions added:
4,447.67
+164.7
522.25 11.74% 742.37 16.69%
4/24/2018 4,282.97 419.50 9.79% 652.60 15.24%
11/14/2017
Positions added:
4,279.22
+92.38
406.70 9.50% 621.30 14.52%
10/24/2016
Positions added:
4,186.84
+35.06
377.07 9.00% 554.45 13.24%
10/5/2015
Positions added:
4,151.78
+214.52
432.72 10.42% 502.53 12.10%
9/22/2014
Positions added:
3,937.26
+123.87
341.01 8.66% 489.40 12.43%
5/20/2013
Positions added:
3,813.39
+16.86
295.88 7.75% 427.82 11.22%
5/14/2012 3,796.53 259.88 6.88% 366.40 9.65%
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Semi-Annual Staffing Report June 2023
Date: May 27, 2023
Finance and Management Committee
June 27, 2023
When departments submit vacancy information, standard descriptors are available from which to choose that identify the status of the vacancy. Table 4 below is a summary of the vacancy status throughout all departments.
Table 4: Summary of Vacancy Status
FTE Vacancy Status
112.89 Dept. Interview Process (Eligible List Refer red)
57.00 Recruitment Open (Application intake)
133.71 Requisition Pending Approval
26.80 Eligible List Available
163.00 Recruitment Plan in Progress
19 Recruitment Closed (HRM screening apps/
HRM Assessment & Scoring)
140.66 Encumbered
105.35 Not Under Active Recruitment
44.00 On Hold (Job spec revisions)
19.00 On Hold (by Dept.)
55.60 Approved (pending HR assignment)
67.00 Pending Hire Approvals (Job offer extended)
944.01 TOTAL
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Semi-Annual Staffing Report June 2023
Date: May 27, 2023
Finance and Management Committee
June 27, 2023
Table 5 shows the total vacancy rate by department sorted from high to low percentage. As noted above, some vacancies are encumbered and may not translate into service delivery impacts.
Table 5 Vacancy Rates by Department
City of Oakland Departments
No. of
Authorized
positions
(FTE)
No. of
vacant
positions
(FTE)
Vacancy
Rate
Violence Prevention 48.80 29.00 59.43%
Police Commission 26.00 15.00 57.69%
City Auditor 11.00 4.00 36.36%
Economic & Workforce Dev 66.50 24.10 36.24%
City Administrator 70.10 23.60 33.67%
Transportation 418.99 137.85 32.90%
Human Services 253.81 79.46 31.31%
DWES 20.00 6.00 30.00%
Planning & Building 213.00 59.00 27.70%
Housing & Community Dev 78.50 20.00 25.48%
Mayor 12.00 3.00 25.00%
Public Works 716.73 158.60 22.13%
Fire 767.88 155.00 20.19%
Race & Equity 5.00 1.00 20.00%
Finance 165.80 33.00 19.90%
Animal Services 35.00 6.50 18.57%
Information Technology 89.00 15.00 16.85%
Parks, Recreation & Youth Dev 231.60 36.50 15.76%
Public Ethics Commission 7.00 1.00 14.29%
Human Resources 58.00 7.00 12.07%
Library 266.61 31.40 11.78%
City Attorney 85.00 6.00 7.06%
Police 1311.50 89.00 6.79%
City Council 31.92 1.00 3.13%
City Clerk 17.50 2.00 0.00%
Citywide Vacancy Rate 5,007.24 944.01 18.85%
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Semi-Annual Staffing Report June 2023
Date: May 27, 2023
Finance and Management Committee
June 27, 2023
Hiring Efforts
There are projected to be 392 full-time and permanent part-time hires during FY 2022-23, which is an 8.3% decrease from FY 2021-22. This can be attributed to ongoing competition for public sector talent and HRM staffing attrition. Promoting existing City staff continues to be an organizational goal and 53.6% were filled with current City employees during the above timeframe. For comparison, in FY 2020-21, 58% of positions were filled with existing City staff. This means that over half of all hires result in another vacancy. At the same time, during FY 2022-23, there is a 38.1% projected decrease in separations of City employees (see Figure B on page 11 of this report).
The HRM staff attended the Fruitvale Job Fair on May 4, 2023, and received over 60 visitors. Most people were interested in entry-level positions requiring a high school diploma and minimal experience. Staff spent most of the time educating people on the application and examination process, the City’s excellent benefits, how to fill out a job interest card, and how to create a new account in Governmentjobs.com. The most popular current opportunities were OPRY&D Summer Part-Time jobs, Library Aide (PT), Head Start/Early Head Start Assistant Instructor, Van Driver, and Police Communications Dispatcher. And there was interest in future opportunities, including administrative support, maintenance, and custodial jobs.
The Vacancy Rates of Regional Local Public Entities
Table 6 is a survey of regional comparator jurisdictions from three points in time: May 2022, December 2022, and May 2023. Most jurisdictions, including Oakland, have experienced a slight decrease in vacancy rates since December 2022. In terms of the percentage of vacancies, San Francisco, Berkeley, and Richmond have a similar vacancy rate to Oakland.
Table 6: Regional Vacancy Rates May 2023
San
Jose
SF Berk Concord Hayward Fremont Richmond Vallejo Oakland Vacancy
Rate
14.41% 17.73% 18.68% 11.30% 12.82% 12.76% 19.01% N/ A 18.62% Regional Rates December 2022
Vacancy
Rate
15.21% 18.32% 17.85% 11.63% 14.16% 12.56% 20.19% 26 .75% 19.00% Regional Rates May 2022
Vacancy
Rate 13.20% NA 16.21% 13.69% 14.80% 11.49% 16.15% 28.48% 16.33%
The Status Of Human Resources And Workforce Development Partnerships With Non- Profits To Recruit Oakland Residents For City Of Oakland Jobs
DHRM and the Economic and Workforce Development Department (EWDD) are working together to recruit and retain Oakland residents for City of Oakland jobs more effectively. The Workforce Development Division of EWDD has launched “Oakland Forward,” a year-round youth and young adult employment program to increase employment and develop public service career pathways. While the program is not solely focused on City of Oakland jobs, this new, state-funded program will focus on the areas of public safety and climate resilience. Through the Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Semi-Annual Staffing Report June 2023
Date: May 27, 2023
Finance and Management Committee
June 27, 2023
Oakland Forward program, Workforce Development staff are also working closely with the Department of Violence Prevention (DVP), Oakland Public Works (OPW), and the Oakland Police Department (OPD) to increase employment opportunities for young people ages 16-30.
Funding support will go towards salary for 10 OPD cadets, a pilot training and employment program for OPW that supports new positions with their Safety and Training department, and an estimated 20 youth positions in DVP through their Career Exploration and Education programming. The success of these investments will support the expansion of these efforts to other City departments, including DHRM, in the upcoming year.
In addition to the above, Oakland Public Library (OPL) applies a Race and Equity lens when recruiting and hiring Temporary Part-Time Library Aides. This classification is the entry-level position for the library system and requires a High School Degree or equivalent. Temporary Part-Time positions are not subject to the rigorous civil service hiring process, which enables greater flexibility in screening and placing applicants.
Library Aide recruitments are promoted online, at libraries in zip codes ranking high on equity indicators, and through social media networks. The screening process focuses on the following criteria:
• Cultural and Racial competency and diversity
• Bi-lingual language skills
• Recent OUSD graduates or other “youth intern” plac ements • Reside in zip codes in Oakland scoring high on Equ ity Index • Demonstrated community service, volunteerism, iden tification, or experience with disadvantaged or marginalized populations (foster youth, LGBTQ, formerly incarcerated, etc.)
These efforts create a pipeline of talent that reflect the Oakland community and the patrons served by OPL. Once hired into the Temporary Part-Time classification, these employees are eligible to apply for permanent city positions through “restricted” recruitments, which prioritizes current City employees. Over time, permanent positions are filled with individuals who have deep community ties, who racially and culturally reflect Oakland’s diverse population, and who serve library patrons with a passion born from their knowledge and experience.
The Analysis Of The City Workforce And Recruitment Conditions
1. DHRM Staffing Update : In July and October 2022, HRM hired two Human Resources Managers in Recruitment and Classification, a division that was traditionally staffed with one Manager. In December 2022, the HRM staff numbered 41 with 19 staff members dedicated to recruitment activities. By May 2023, the HRM staff was 49 employees with 27 staff dedicated to recruitment activities. Of the 27 recruitment staff, 14 staff are new or newly promoted. The recruitment division still has 6 vacant positions, which are under active recruitment. With the expansion of recruitment staff, there is a significant amount of training needed on Oakland’s very technical recruitment process.
2. Impacts of the Ransomware Attack on Staffing: The ransomware attack in February 2023 impacted the hiring and staffing activities in many departments. Some of the impacts on hiring include longer recruitment timelines due to limited availability and access to Subject Matter Experts in departments that were more heavily impacted, delays in processing hire data due to lack of Oracle access, and new employees being Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Semi-Annual Staffing Report June 2023
Date: May 27, 2023
Finance and Management Committee
June 27, 2023
delayed in getting IT logins, equipment, and systems accounts while information technology resources were deployed to other efforts.
3. Strategies for Filling Positions: There is continuous process improvement with the new management and staff. In January 2023, HRM and the City Administrator’s Office concluded stakeholder meetings with each department. Department Heads, and their staff involved in hiring, provided meaningful input and insights into challenges and delays. Several process changes have been implemented, including:
• Implementing a completely revamped job announcement that highlights the City of Oakland brand, the benefits of working for the City of Oakland, and reasons why candidates would be attracted to a particular position. • Launching integrated testing software , eliminating data entry, and reducing the number of administrative steps in scheduling, scoring, and analyzing Civil Service multiple-choice exams.
• Simplifying the pre-recruitment process, replacing a complicated check-list with a more streamlined request form, and centralizing the responsibility for Job Analysis in HRM.
• Implementing a Competency Framework, including a competency-based job analysis and interview process.
• Reducing and eliminating some redundant approvals to speed up the review process for requisitions.
• Expanding the use of video interviews with the eventual use of on-demand interview technology. This has preset questions that a candidate can answer at their convenience. It is also a more consistent interview process across the board to ensure equitable hiring practices.
• Clarifying requirements when using the same eligible list for additional vacancies on the same team to avoid redundant interviews or duplicate requisition forms.
• Implementation of new project management software to improve recruitment and classification analytics and metrics, which will include time-to-hire data. • Multiple days of training for DHRM and Department “Single Point of Contact” (SPOC) staff to improve recruitment coordination and processes.
Further, DHRM has concluded the RFP process for on-demand, virtual oral examinations. The software will provide more flexibility in the process for both applicants and assessors, which DHRM anticipates will reduce no-show rates for applicants and address the challenges the City faces in finding qualified assessors in a timely fashion.
DHRM and the City Administrator’s office have secured the services of an outside consultant to map the entire recruitment process to identify efficiencies and accelerate the hiring process.
Ultimately, the goal is to improve hiring metrics (i.e., benchmarking), retain current talent, leverage available technology, including automating the employee performance management process, and advance the City of Oakland brand as an employer of choice.
4. National and Regional Market Conditions : According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report, the nation’s unemployment rate is 3.4% as of April 2022, which is a decrease from 3.7%. In March 2023, the Oakland-Hayward- Fremont regional Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Semi-Annual Staffing Report June 2023
Date: May 27, 2023
Finance and Management Committee
June 27, 2023
unemployment rate was 3.1%. The California unemployment rate is 4.4% as of March 2023. These rates have stayed consistent since the last Staffing Report and the labor market remains competitive, which is a significant factor when recruiting qualified and diverse candidates. According to a recently published report from NeoGov, “HR Trends Report 2023,” when comparing 2022 to 2021, applications per job across the public sector were down by 56%. A December 2022 survey identified the top three recruiting challenges for government agencies are finding qualified candidates, offering competitive salaries, and slow hiring processes. The report also highlighted the top three factors that candidates care about the most as competitive salaries, work-life balance, and better benefits. Please refer to Attachment C for more information.
5. Non-responsive Candidates: In addition to an overall reduced number of applicants, there is 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 issue exacerbates the ability to produce robust eligible lists and fill vacancies.
6. Difficult to Fill Classifications : Some classifications remain difficult to fill despite combined efforts between Human Resources and the hiring department(s). Examples of these classifications and the number of current vacancies include, Assistant Engineer II (16), Civil Engineer (15), and Specialty Combination (Building) Inspector (11). Human Resources continues to coordinate with departments to increase the number of applicants for these important positions. DHRM and the departments are exploring new recruitment approaches that shorten the hiring timeline and reduce any unnecessary barriers to employment.
On a positive note, as of May 1, 2023, 723 of 741 Police sworn positions are filled and 64 of 76 Police Communications Dispatchers are filled.
7. Recruitment & Selection Process Overview: There are many steps involved in hiring new employees. Many are required by Civil Service Rules, labor agreements, federal guidelines, and position/budget controls. DHRM continues to carefully analyze this process to seek improvements. In 2018, an evaluation process resulted in a reduction from 52 steps to 32 steps.
Below is a summary of the steps that Human Resources Management conducts for full recruitment:
• Review of Job Specification
• Personnel Requisition
• Job Analysis
• Exam Plan Meeting & Exam Development
• Job Posting (Application Filing Period)
• Review Application for Minimum Qualifications
• Competitive Examination (may include essay-style written exercises, multiple- choice tests, performance assessments, job simulation exercises, structured interviews, or assessment centers.)
• Preference Points
• Eligible List Established
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Semi-Annual Staffing Report June 2023
Date: May 27, 2023
Finance and Management Committee
June 27, 2023
• Notification to Candidates of Exam Results
• Referrals & Departmental Interviews Initiated
DHRM continues to carefully analyze this process to seek improvements.
8. The Great Resignation: In 2021, a record number of American workers (47 million) quit their jobs, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Historically high levels of voluntary turnover have continued into 2023, with over 4 million people leaving their jobs each month since November 2021 to March 2023, except for January 2023 and March 2023 which saw only a modest drop to 3.9 million voluntary separations both times.
Workforce Analysis
1. Separations and Hires : To reduce the overall vacancy rate, city hiring needs to outpace separations. As demonstrated in Figure B below, over the last five years, the number of separations has closely tracked the number of hires. For Fiscal Year 22-23, hires are expected to significantly outpace separations for the first time in five years. As the economy slows and the number of eligible retirees decreases, coupled with expanded HR recruitment capacity, it is expected that hires will continue to exceed separations.
Figure B: Hires and Separations by Fiscal Year
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Semi-Annual Staffing Report June 2023
Date: May 27, 2023
Finance and Management Committee
June 27, 2023
Table 9 shows the reasons for the separation of full-time City employees since the Fiscal Year 2013-14.
Table 9: Reasons for Separations
FY Resign Retire Othe r Total
22-23
projected 187 77 40 304
21-22 242 135 69 446
20-21 140 123 39 302
19-20 146 96 61 303
18 -19 111 78 41 230
17 -18 117 110 34 261
16 -17 106 131 39 276
15-16 98 113 36 247
14-15 80 108 43 231
13-14 73 100 33 206
3. Tenure of Separations : According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national rate of tenure with a public-sector employer is 6.5 years (the private sector is 3.7 years), which includes all separations. Over the last nine years, all separated full-time City of Oakland employees averages 12.84 years of service, far surpassing the national average. This is detailed in Figure C below.
Figure C: Separations and Hires by Fiscal Year
12.69 12.01 12.03
12.63 12.63
14.06 13.44
13.92 12.18
10.5 11
11.5 12
12.5 13
13.5 14
14.5 13-14 14-15 15-16 16-17 17-18 18-19 19-20 20-21 21-22 Years of Service
Fiscal Years
Average Tenure City of Oakland Employee
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Semi-Annual Staffing Report June 2023
Date: May 27, 2023
Finance and Management Committee
June 27, 2023
4. Separations by Department : While the tenure of separating employees is above the national average, rates of separation vary by department. Table 10 shows the number of separations, including retirements and resignations, in six of the largest city departments from July 1, 2022, to May 31, 2023. Of note, Oakland Police Department experienced 35 resignations so far in FY 2022-23 (projected to be 42 by June 30, 2023), 86 resignations in FY 2021-22, and 66 in FY 2020-21.
Tab le 10 : Largest Department Separations, Retirements, and Resignations Department
Total
Department
FTE
FY 22-23
FY 22-23 to 5/1/2023
Total
Separations Retirements Resignations Other
Police 1,311.50 50 12 35 3
Public Works 716.73 28 7 16 5
Fire 767.88 34 15 18 1
Transportation 418.99 14 2 11 1
Library 266.61 9 4 5 0
Human Services 253.81 16 7 6 1
Planning &
Building 213.00 11 10 1
City-Wide Priorities
1. Holistic community safety
This reports details hiring and staffing data for departments responsible for community safety.
2. Housing, economic, and cultural security
This report details hiring and staffing data for departments responsible for housing, economic and cultural security.
3. Vibrant, sustainable infrastructure
This report details hiring and staffing data for departments responsible for a vibrant, sustainable infrastructure.
4. Responsive, trustworthy government
This report offers the latest data and efforts by the City of Oakland related to staffing, services and recruitment efforts and processes.
FISCAL IMPACT
This item is for informational purposes only and does not have a direct fiscal impact or cost.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Semi-Annual Staffing Report June 2023
Date: May 27, 2023
Finance and Management Committee
June 27, 2023
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
No outreach was deemed necessary for the proposed policy action beyond the standard City Council agenda noticing procedures, because the report presents the City’s internal staffing and hiring efforts. Community programs that promote local job opportunities were considered indirectly through the Economic and Workforce Development Department’s efforts to coordinate with those programs.
COORDINATION
This report was developed in coordination with all departments to obtain the status of all organizational vacancies. There was additional coordination with the departments of Finance and Economic Workforce Development in relation to staffing data, budgeted vacancy factor, and community job placement programs. Further, the report was reviewed by the Budget Bureau.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic : There are no economic opportunities associated with this report.
Environmental : There are no environmental opportunities associated with this report.
Race & Equity : As described in early reports, the public sector is struggling to fill positions at the national, state, and local levels. The City of Oakland faces similar struggles coupled with a time-intensive merit-based process. In some areas of Oakland, the unemployment rate is triple that of the regional rate. HRM understands the need to fill positions with highly-qualified candidates but also carefully analyzes who is filling those positions.
The HRM Equity Change Team, in collaboration with the recruitment division, has developed Equity Goals to achieve more equitable outcomes for employees and make the City of Oakland an Employer of Choice. The HRM team continues to implement the Hire Equity Toolkit (formally the Equity in Recruitment and Selection Toolkit) to make it easier to use and more actionable for departments; race and equity performance standards into the Performance Management system; race and equity programs into the New Employee Orientation and Supervisory Academy; and mandatory participation in the Race and Equity Academy for all HRM staff.
The goals and desired outcomes of the HRM Equity Team include:
• Reducing and removing barriers to achieve more equ itable results in the entire recruitment process, including updating job qualifications that are not necessary for a person to do the job on day one.
• Partnering with departments to prioritize recruitm ents for positions that provide critical services BIPOC Oakland communities.
• Eliminating disparities related to racial/ethnic i dentity, gender identity and expression, disabilities, and additional intersecting communities in hiring, promotion, retention, and development through the use of the Racial Equity in Recruitment and Selection Toolkit. • Engaging in purposeful community outreach by partn ering with City departments and community organizations to expand awareness of the City of Oakland job opportunities.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Semi-Annual Staffing Report June 2023
Date: May 27, 2023
Finance and Management Committee
June 27, 2023
The work plan for the HRM Equity Team for 2023 includes:
• Develop a Racial Equity Action Plan to assess, update and implement policies and systems through a racial equity lens to adjust to the evolving and changing workplace. • Create a Digital Engagement Plan to increase exposure and interest in City of Oakland jobs throughout the Oakland community.
• Completed the update of the Performance Appraisal process to include standards for racial equity competency at the staff and management levels. • Develop an Inclusive Engagement in Recruitment Guide for departments to use as a tool during recruitments.
• Require Hiring Bias Reduction training for all staff involved in the recruitment and selection of city employees.
• Create a career development series of trainings to better attract and retain talent, which will include training on the City of Oakland job application process. • Building a network of community, workforce development, and human resources partners to increase access and visibility to City of Oakland jobs. Outcomes will be measured by examining the application, candidate, and interview pools to determine impacts on people of color.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Semi-Annual Staffing Report June 2023
Date: May 27, 2023 Page 16
Finance and Management Committee
June 27, 2023
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Receive A Semi-Annual Informational Report On City- Wide Staffing From The City Administrator Regarding (1) The Vacancy Rates Of All City Departments Through May 1, 2023, (2) The Vacancy Rates of Regional Local Public Entities, (3) The Analysis Of The City Workforce And Recruitment Conditions, And (4) The Budgeted Vacancy Rate For The Fiscal Year 2023/24.
For questions regarding this report, please contact IAN APPLEYARD, HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR, at (510) 238-6450.
Respectfully submitted,
IAN APPLEYARD
Human Resources Director
Department of Human Resources Management
Reviewed by:
Tina Pruett, Human Resources Manager
Amber Lytle, Human Resources Manager
Prepared by:
Lisa Wright, Human Resources Operations
Supervisor
Attachments (3):
A: Citywide Vacancies by Department
B: Frozen Vacancies by Department
C: NeoGov Public Sector Human Resources Trends Report