State agencies trim 1,100 paychecks

Gregoire ordered hiring freeze in August

By Adam Wilson | The Olympian • Published November 14, 2008

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The number of people drawing a state paycheck has dropped by 1,185 since Gov. Chris Gregoire ordered a hiring freeze in early August.

Steps taken so far

Gov. Chris Gregoire planned to save $90 million with a hiring freeze and other steps taken during the summer. As the economy continued to slump, she ordered a 1 percent reduction in agency budgets and other steps in October.

What's next

Gov. Chris Gregoire is required to draft a balanced budget proposal by Dec. 20. Members of her budget staff have suggested that layoffs could be part of that proposal for the 2009-11 budget.

It's unlikely that the cuts so far — Gregoire expected to save $330 million through June and $605 million in the next two-year budget — will make up for the dragging economy. In September, the state faced an estimated shortfall of $3.2 billion, and the latest tax report showed that state taxes brought in $53 million less than expected in October.

Much of the decrease is seasonal. Outdoor-orientated agencies with summer employment show the biggest changes: the Parks and Recreation Commission's payroll is down 375 people, and the Department of Natural Resources is down 402.

But agencies are reducing office staffing as well. The Department of Social and Health Services has lost 99 people since the freeze was announced, while the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction has dropped 23 positions.

The total number of state employees has dropped to 65,955, including all part-time, full-time and temporary workers. The count reflects numbers as of Oct. 31 and does not include university employees.

"We certainly do feel it. There's some managers now who are covering more than one region for their particular responsibility, for example," said Steve Pierce, spokesman for the Department of Labor and Industries.

The agency has lost 24 employees, leaving it with 2,765. The departures include some of the agents who investigate claims of wage-law violations, Pierce said.

The three-month hiring freeze affects even growing agencies such as the Department of Corrections, which has added 196 employees since the freeze was announced.

The agency is hiring to staff expanding prisons, but other slots are going unfilled, said spokesman Chad Lewis. He noted that there were 24 fewer people working in the agencies' Tumwater headquarters, including fewer supervisors and support staff members.

There were exceptions to the hold on hiring for public-safety workers and other areas, such as in the Employment Security Department. The salaries of most of that agency's workers are funded by federal dollars.

Requests outside of those exemptions must go to the Department of Personnel. The agency reported that there have been exemption requests for 820 positions, and 745 were granted.

The majority of the approved exemptions, 429, have been for nonpermanent staff members such as harvest-time inspectors for the Department of Agriculture, according to the Department of Personnel.

Adam Wilson covers state workers and politics for The Olympian. He can be reached at awilson@theolympian.com.