Putting Rendell's Layoffs in Perspective
Yesterday, Gov. Rendell announced layoffs for 255 state workers at a press conference, and said more might be coming if lawmakers don't pass a budget to Rendell's liking.
But let's put those layoffs in perspective:
1) Pennsylvania currently has over 5,000 vacant positions. While some of those may not be funded in the coming year, there are a lot of potential openings, and state employees generally have a history of moving between departments.
2) Auditor General Jack Wagner proposed using early retirement incentives (and no replace the retirees/only hire within) - suggesting this would reduce the state payroll by 2,000 to 3,000.
3) The 255 jobs represent less than one-half of one percent of the state payroll. Contrast that to the private sector, where Pennsylvania has lost 184,000 net jobs over the past year, or 3.6%. In other words, if you work in the private sector, you are at least 12 times more likely to lose your job than working for the state.
| Private Sector Jobs (x1000) | State Payroll | |||
| Jul-08 | 5,111 | Positions | 83,508 | |
| Jul-09 | 4,928 | Filled Positions | 78,295 | |
| Net Jobs Lost | 184 | Layoffs | 255 | |
| Percent Lost | 3.6% | Percent Layoffs | 0.3% |
2 comments:
I hope this isn't meant to belittle the fact that another 255 people are out of work and will now be a burden on Government and taxpayers instead of being a contributing tax payer.
I don't want to see people lose their jobs, but these people were already dependent on the Government and taxpayers for their paycheck.
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