Vacant positions in New York City government represent authorized but unfilled roles that impact the City's ability to deliver services and manage its budget. This page covers CBC's work on staffing levels, hiring processes, civil service reform, the elimination of unnecessary positions, and the strategic reallocation of personnel to critical functions.
This page was created with AICBC Insights uses AI to group, analyze and present data and recommendations from CBC's publications. Always reference the cited sources to verify important details..
The City should be shifting existing vacancies to where they are needed, not adding new positions.
The City should speed up critical hiring to improve operational efficiency.
Key Data
In October 2024, the CBC reported that staffing vacancies contributed to a decline in the share of restaurants inspected for health violations, which fell to 66.4% in fiscal year 2024, down from 99.5% in fiscal year 2019 and 83.4% in fiscal year 2023.
In August 2023, the CBC highlighted that the City had over 26,000 vacant positions budgeted for fiscal year 2024, with 26,602 vacant positions (comprising 21,227 full-time and 5,375 full-time equivalent positions) recorded as of May 2023.
In May 2023, the CBC reported that despite having nearly 23,000 vacant full-time positions as of January 2023, the Executive Budget added 1,274 new full-time positions in fiscal year 2024.
In September 2022, the CBC reported that the City's on-board full-time and full-time equivalent headcount declined by 21,551 employees from March 2020 to April 2022, driven by attrition during the pandemic.
In March 2022, the CBC reported that agency-specific vacancy rates varied widely, with the highest rates among agencies with over 1,000 full-time staff found at the Department of Buildings at 23.4% (473 positions) and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene at 17.7% (1,093 positions).
New York City faces a significant $10.6 billion budget gap driven by migrant costs and unsustainable spending, requiring strategic savings rather than tax hikes or reserve depletion. To address this, the City must prioritize critical services and improve efficiency, which may involve re-evaluating the elimination of vacant positions and engaging labor in structural reforms.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The City should prioritize services with significant impact and increase efficiency rather than focusing on expanding services, as past savings measures like eliminating vacant positions have already plucked the low-hanging fruit.
The City must engage labor to identify and deliver services efficiently, including agreed-upon changes to work rules, job titles, and benefit administration structures.
The Council should focus on data to help make hard choices and minimize the impact on New Yorkers, specifically questioning whether current staffing levels, such as the number of police officers, are deployed directly for public safety.
Key Data
92%
— of previous savings measures would not directly affect program services, instead lowering spending by re-estimating costs, eliminating vacant positions, and shifting costs to federal or State sources.
20%
— of the most recent savings program (PEG) will affect current programs, raising questions about whether these are the wisest choices for staffing and service delivery.
New York City currently faces over 26,000 vacant positions, a staffing issue driven by bureaucratic processes and management challenges rather than budgetary constraints. To address these vacancies, the city must modernize civil service regulations, increase flexibility in work rules, and improve its ability to compete with the private sector for talent.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The City should flexibly allocate vacant positions where they are needed.
The City should speed up review and approval processes to hire expeditiously.
The City should increase flexibility of work rules, job titles, and schedules to address staffing challenges.
The City should modernize and better manage civil service regulations to improve hiring.
The City should identify other ways to better compete with the private sector for talent.
Key Data
26,602
— Total number of vacant positions across City agencies.
21,227
— Number of full-time vacant positions.
5,375
— Number of full-time equivalent vacant positions.
New York State Budget Fiscal Year 2024 Major Actions and Fiscal Risks As of First Quarter Update New York City Fiscal Year 2024 Adopted Budget and Outlook
New York City currently has 23,000 vacant full-time positions, yet the fiscal year 2024 budget added 1,270 new positions. Rather than creating new roles, the city should reallocate existing vacancies to critical areas and reform its hiring processes to improve efficiency.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The City should stop adding new positions because it already has sufficient vacancies.
The City should shift vacancies to the areas where they are most needed.
The City should take steps to aggressively reform how it hires, especially for critical functions.
Key Data
23,000
— full-time positions that remain vacant as of January 2023.
1,270
— new full-time positions added in fiscal year 2024.
18%
— of fiscal year 2024 to 2027 savings derived from vacancy reductions.
7,500
— additional full-time equivalent positions that are vacant.
New York City currently maintains 23,000 vacant positions, yet the proposed budget continues to add new roles rather than reallocating existing ones to areas of need. Addressing these staffing levels through strategic shifts rather than expansion is essential for improving operational efficiency and fiscal stability.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The City should be shifting existing vacancies to where they are needed, not adding new positions.
The City should speed up critical hiring to improve operational efficiency.
Key Data
23,000
— Number of existing vacancies in the City.
New York City faces significant staffing shortages with 23,000 vacant full-time positions, despite recent savings plans eliminating over 11,000 vacancies. Addressing these service-impacting shortages requires radical reforms to the city's slow, bureaucratic hiring process and the implementation of strategies to improve government productivity.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The city must implement radical reforms to its slow, bureaucratic hiring process to address ongoing staffing shortages.
The city should prioritize reorganizing operations, streamlining bureaucracy, and leveraging technology to improve government productivity and manage staffing needs.
The city should pursue additional savings across government through overtime caps and ambulance staffing changes to improve operational efficiency.
Key Data
23,000
— Number of vacant full-time positions in the city that are possible to fill.
11,386
— Number of vacancies eliminated by the administration's savings plans.
327,000 to 300,000
— Reduction in the number of city employees on board due to attrition and slow hiring during the pandemic.
$100 million
— Potential annual savings from increasing sanitation productivity.
The Adams Administration's savings plans have eliminated 11,386 vacant full-time positions, yet the City still maintains nearly 23,000 full-time vacancies. These reductions, which account for 26 percent of the plans' recurring impact, demonstrate that current staffing challenges are not caused by a lack of budgeted positions.
Key Data
23,000
— The number of full-time vacant positions that the City still has, plus additional part-time vacancies.
11,386
— The number of vacant full-time positions cumulatively eliminated by the savings plans.
8,115
— The net fiscal year 2024 reduction in positions after accounting for additions and eliminations.
3,271
— The number of positions the City simultaneously added while eliminating vacant full-time positions.
26 percent
— The portion of the savings plans' recurring impact derived from eliminating vacant positions.
New York City can meet its budget savings targets without layoffs by leveraging the 23,000 existing citywide vacancies to reduce costs while still hiring for critical roles. Improving operational efficiency through more flexible work rules and job titles remains the most effective strategy for preserving services and ensuring long-term fiscal stability.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
Agencies should utilize the 23,000 citywide vacancies to meet savings targets and hire for critical positions instead of resorting to layoffs.
The City should prioritize improving operational efficiency as the best approach to preserving services.
The City should leverage collective bargaining negotiations to make work rules and job titles more flexible to increase operating efficiency and reduce ongoing costs.
Key Data
23,000
— Number of citywide vacancies that allow agencies to meet savings targets without layoffs.
$6.5 billion
— Projected New York City budget gap by fiscal year 2027.
$14.0 billion
— Potential future budget gaps that may be exceeded by fiscal year 2027.
$8.8 billion
— Amount of funding the City may need this year and next.
The Fiscal Year 2024 Preliminary Budget includes the elimination of 4,300 vacant positions, resulting in estimated savings of $181 million in the current year and $350 million in the following year. Despite this reduction, the city retains over 23,000 vacancies, with staffing challenges attributed to managerial issues and labor market conditions rather than budgetary constraints.
Key Data
4,300
— Number of vacant positions reduced in the Fiscal Year 2024 Preliminary Budget.
23,000
— Number of remaining vacant positions in the city after the reduction.
$181 million
— Estimated savings from eliminating 4,300 vacant positions in the current year.
$350 million
— Estimated savings from eliminating 4,300 vacant positions in the next year.
New York City plans to address its budget gap by eliminating half of its vacant civilian positions, a move expected to reduce the authorized headcount by 5,000 and generate $350 million in annual savings. While the city currently holds over 20,000 vacant positions, officials estimate that these vacancies will contribute $875 million in savings for fiscal year 2023.
Key Data
$875 million
— Estimated fiscal year 2023 vacancy savings.
5,000
— Number of authorized positions expected to be reduced by eliminating half of vacant civilian positions.
$350 million
— Annual savings expected from the reduction of 5,000 authorized positions.
20,000
— Number of currently vacant positions in the city.
21,000
— Number of vacant government positions cited in reports.
New York City has reduced vacancies by 2,000 annually, yet over 24,000 full-time positions remain vacant. The city should prioritize hiring for critical functions while eliminating unnecessary roles and allowing agencies flexibility to shift positions to areas with the greatest staffing needs.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The City can and should both hire for critical functions and eliminate many more, ultimately unneeded, positions.
The City and agencies should have flexibility to shift vacant positions across and within agencies to units and titles that have critical staffing needs.
Key Data
2,000
— The November Plan reduced vacancies by roughly 2,000 annually in fiscal years 2024 and 2025.
24,000
— There are more than 24,000 vacant full-time positions remaining.
5,000
— The reduction of vacant civilian positions will total around 5,000 positions.
$350 million
— The elimination of vacant civilian positions is expected to save around $350 million annually.
New York City's financial plan reduces vacancies by roughly 2,000 annually in fiscal years 2024 and 2025, yet nearly 20,000 vacant positions remain. To improve operational efficiency, the City should prioritize hiring for critical functions while eliminating unnecessary positions.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The City should hire for critical functions and eliminate many more, ultimately unneeded, vacant positions.
Key Data
2,000
— The financial plan reduces vacancies by roughly 2,000 annually in fiscal years 2024 and 2025.
20,000
— The financial plan leaves nearly 20,000 vacant positions.
New York City currently has 28,000 vacant positions, yet it maintains a workforce of approximately 304,000 full-time and full-time-equivalent employees. To address budget gaps and improve service delivery, the city should strategically hire in critical areas while eliminating thousands of unneeded vacant positions.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The city needs to both restrain spending and better manage vacancies and hiring.
The city can and should hire in critical areas.
The city should eliminate many thousands of unneeded vacant positions.
Key Data
28,000
— The number of vacancies currently held by the city, which allows for strategic hiring in critical areas.
304,000
— The number of full-time and full-time-equivalent employees currently on board in the city.
New York City's current 28,000 vacancies provide an opportunity to hire critical service-providing staff while simultaneously meeting the Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) targets. By restructuring operations and adjusting work rules during labor contract negotiations, the City can achieve necessary fiscal savings without compromising essential services.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The City should leverage its current 28,000 vacancies to hire critical service-providing positions while still meeting Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) targets.
The City should change work rules and other contractual components to increase efficiency and provide savings, which allows for raising employee salaries without creating an unsustainable fiscal burden.
Key Data
28,000
— The number of current vacancies in New York City that allow for hiring critical service-providing positions while meeting PEG targets.
3 percent
— The initial savings target for the Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) for the current year.
4.75 percent
— The projected savings target for the Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) in future years.
New York City faces significant staffing challenges with over 28,500 vacant positions, despite having an authorized headcount that remains inordinately high at 333,129. To address these issues, the city should streamline its rigid hiring processes, reallocate existing vacancies to priority areas, and modernize civil service systems to improve retention and recruitment.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The City should move available positions to where they are needed and increase the flexibility of processes used to control, allocate, and reallocate headcount.
The City should improve and speed up the processes and procedures it uses to control and manage hiring and to administer the civil service system.
The City should institute policies to increase retention of high-performing employees.
The City should modernize civil service and job paths to increase the attractiveness of public sector employment.
The City should report transparently on vacancies, hires, separations, and promotions.
Key Data
333,129
— Authorized headcount for fiscal year 2023.
28,500
— Vacant positions as of April 2022.
23,793
— Full-time vacant positions as of April 2022.
246 days
— Median time between exam administration and results in the first four months of fiscal year 2022.
21,551
— Decline in on-board full-time and full-time equivalents from March 2020 to April 2022.
326,739
— Pre-pandemic high of full-time and full-time equivalents.
New York City's housing development is hindered by operational delays that could be mitigated by filling the city's 22,000 vacant positions. Addressing these staffing shortages is necessary to accelerate the processing of zoning certifications, building permits, and certificates of occupancy.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The city should prioritize hiring and retaining staff to improve basic operations like approval times and permit processing.
Key Data
22,000
— The number of **vacant positions** in New York City that could be filled to improve basic operations like approval times and permit processing.
New York City's executive budget added 3,011 new positions despite having 18,000 existing vacancies, effectively reversing previous efforts to reduce headcount. Instead of creating new roles, the city should focus on redistributing current vacancies and removing bureaucratic obstacles that hinder hiring for priority areas.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
Rather than add positions, the City should redistribute available vacancies across departments, within agencies, or across agencies.
Until the City reduces managerial and procedural roadblocks to hiring, City agencies may struggle to fill priority vacancies.
Key Data
18,000
— Number of vacant city jobs existing in New York City.
$1 Billion
— Amount of annually recurring savings from the Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG).
7,026
— Number of vacant full-time positions eliminated at 42 agencies in the Preliminary Budget.
3,011
— Number of positions added in the fiscal year 2023 Executive Budget.
69%
— Percentage of February PEG reductions reversed by the addition of new positions.
0.65%
— Decrease in total authorized City headcount from November 2021 to April 2022.
The City's Program to Eliminate the Gap has relied heavily on vacancy reductions and re-estimates rather than operational efficiencies to achieve savings. While eliminating 7,026 vacant positions has helped rightsize the budget, the City should prioritize implementing management reforms that reduce unit costs and streamline operations to ensure long-term fiscal stability.
Key Data
7,026
— Number of full-time positions eliminated across 42 agencies through the Program to Eliminate the Gap.
$290 million
— Annual savings generated from the elimination of vacant positions.
24.1%
— Share of total Program to Eliminate the Gap savings that came from the elimination of vacant positions.
22,376
— Number of vacant full-time positions in the City as of December 2021.
New York City maintains sufficient authorized headcount to fill nearly 19,000 vacant full-time positions, indicating that staffing challenges stem from rigid management and slow hiring processes rather than a lack of available roles. Improving system flexibility and streamlining civil service testing are essential to addressing these operational inefficiencies and filling priority vacancies.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The City should increase the flexibility of its systems that control, allocate, and reallocate headcount to better align vacancies with priorities.
The City should improve the systems it uses to control and manage hiring and to administer the civil service system.
The City should provide greater flexibility to move headcount across agencies, within agencies across units, or to allocate vacancies agency-wide.
The City should improve recruitment and hiring systems and processes to reduce the time to fill positions.
The Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) should leverage technology and other process reforms to speed up the process of administering tests and certifying civil service lists.
Key Data
7,026
— Number of vacant full-time positions eliminated across 42 agencies by the Fiscal Year 2023 Preliminary Budget Program to Eliminate the Gap.
$290 million
— Annual savings generated by the elimination of 7,026 vacant full-time positions.
18,000
— Number of full-time employees the City could still hire after the Program to Eliminate the Gap.
22,376
— Number of vacant full-time positions available to be filled in the fiscal year based on December 2021 on-board staff and November 2021 authorized levels.
7.3 percent
— Vacancy rate for full-time positions based on December 2021 on-board staff and November 2021 authorized levels.
246 days
— Median time between exam administration and results for civil service tests in the first four months of fiscal year 2022.
The New York City Police Department's fiscal year 2023 budget includes the elimination of 210 vacant civilian positions to generate recurring savings. Additionally, the department maintains an authorized uniformed headcount of 35,030 following a reduction of 1,171 positions in the previous fiscal year.
Key Data
210
— vacant civilian positions eliminated to generate recurring savings
1,171
— positions reduced in fiscal year 2021
35,030
— authorized uniformed headcount maintained throughout the financial plan
New York City's Preliminary Budget for Fiscal Year 2023 achieved savings primarily by eliminating over 7,000 vacant positions rather than through operational efficiencies. Despite these reductions, the City still maintains over 18,500 vacant full-time positions, highlighting the need for a more strategic approach to efficiency in future budgets.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The Executive Budget should build on this start and include a PEG targeting 3 percent in fiscal year 2023 and each year thereafter, focused on strategies that increase efficiency and reduce unit costs.
Key Data
7,000
— Number of vacant full-time positions eliminated in the Preliminary Budget for Fiscal Year 2023.
26,000
— Number of vacant full-time positions in the City as of December 31, 2021.
18,500
— Number of vacant full-time positions remaining after accounting for authorized levels and headcount adjustments.
24 percent
— Portion of the five-year PEG savings attributed to vacancy reductions that did not increase efficiency.
The City's fiscal year 2023 preliminary budget successfully reduced the workforce by eliminating 3,200 vacant positions in 2022 and 7,000 in subsequent years, contributing to savings of $866 million and $1.1 billion respectively. To further improve fiscal health, the administration should pursue additional efficiency savings through central functions and collective bargaining negotiations while addressing looming fiscal cliffs.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The Administration should identify additional agency and central function efficiency savings to include in the Executive Budget.
It is critically important that the Administration work with its municipal unions to identify and implement efficiency savings and rationalize benefit levels and administration during collective bargaining negotiations.
The City should take significant additional actions in the Executive and Adopted Budgets to make government more efficient, stave off the looming fiscal cliffs, and save for the inevitable next downturn.
Key Data
3,200
— vacant positions removed from the fiscal year 2022 authorized headcount.
7,000
— vacant positions eliminated in fiscal year 2023 and beyond.
$866 million
— savings delivered in fiscal year 2022 from the Program to Eliminate the Gap.
$1.1 billion
— annually recurring savings delivered in fiscal year 2023 and beyond from the Program to Eliminate the Gap.
New York City agencies have been instructed to eliminate vacant positions, which numbered over 20,000 in late 2021, as part of a broader effort to achieve $1.7 billion in annual savings. To meet these goals, agencies are encouraged to leverage technology, streamline operations, and consolidate functions rather than cutting direct services or resorting to layoffs.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
Agencies should leverage technology to improve service delivery.
Agencies should reduce spending on low impact programs.
Agencies should work with labor to change work rules to increase efficiency.
Agencies should streamline work processes.
Agencies should consolidate like functions across agencies.
Key Data
20,000
— Number of vacant positions in New York City agencies as of November 2021.
$1.7 billion
— Total annual savings expected from City-funded agency spending through the Program to Eliminate the Gap.
$1.0 billion
— Portion of the $1.7 billion in annual savings derived specifically from agency operating budgets.
New York City agencies have been directed to improve fiscal efficiency by rightsizing their budgeted headcount, which includes eliminating a portion of the city's 20,000 vacant positions. This strategy aims to reduce spending and streamline operations without cutting direct services or laying off current staff.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
Agencies should rightsize their budgeted headcount by eliminating some of the city’s 20,000 vacant positions.
Key Data
20,000
— The number of vacant positions in the city that agencies were instructed to eliminate to rightsize their budgeted headcount.
The November 2021 Financial Plan relies on illusionary labor and attrition savings to mask budget gaps, necessitating a proactive approach to workforce restructuring. The incoming administration is urged to leverage collective bargaining to improve productivity and ensure long-term fiscal sustainability.
Key Data
$750 million
— The amount by which annual budget gaps are higher than stated, due to the inclusion of illusionary labor and attrition savings.
The Fiscal Year 2022 budget temporarily reversed hiring freezes, increasing authorized headcount to 337,294 positions, while deferring plans to reduce staff by nearly 4,000 to the next administration. This shift creates a short-term increase in hiring capacity but leaves significant long-term attrition savings targets for future fiscal years.
Key Data
337,294
— The authorized headcount for fiscal year 2022, which is nearly the highest ever.
$283 million
— The average annual attrition savings for fiscal years 2023 to 2025.
11,395
— The total increase in authorized positions across 44 agencies from fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2022.
313,875
— The City's on-board headcount as of March 2021.
5,048
— The number of primarily full-time positions by which authorized headcount decreases from fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2023.
$30.4 million
— The attrition savings in the fiscal year 2022 Adopted Budget following restorations.
New York City plans to increase its workforce by filling thousands of positions despite facing annual budget gaps of nearly $5 billion through fiscal year 2025. Instead of expanding the workforce, the city should utilize current vacancies to strategically reallocate staff and prioritize efficient service delivery.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The City should not increase the size of its workforce given the annual budget gaps.
The City should use federal aid and current vacancies as an opportunity to hire strategically to reallocate workers to where they are necessary.
The City should restructure operations to prioritize efficient service delivery that benefits all New Yorkers.
The City should continue to reduce actual headcount, albeit more slowly, rather than reversing course to increase both actual and authorized headcount.
Current vacancies provide an opportunity to target hiring to provide high quality services to New Yorkers, ensuring all services are provided efficiently.
Key Data
13,926
— Number of authorized full-time and full-time equivalent positions that were vacant as of February 2021.
4.2%
— Percentage of the City’s authorized full-time and full-time equivalent positions that were vacant as of February 2021.
12,852
— Number of positions projected to remain vacant in fiscal year 2022 under the City's plan to increase actual headcount.
6,850
— Number of additional positions the City proposes to fill in the Fiscal Year 2022 Executive Budget.
New York City can achieve significant labor savings and avoid layoffs by leveraging natural attrition, which sees approximately 23,000 employees leave the workforce annually. By filling only half of these vacancies, the City could reduce its headcount by more than 10,000 positions each year.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The City should significantly reduce headcount and planned spending through attrition rather than layoffs by not filling all vacancies.
The City should fill only half of the vacancies created by the approximately 23,000 employees who leave the municipal workforce annually to reduce headcount by more than 10,000 positions.
The City should eliminate the Absent Teacher Reserve as a permanent, paid assignment for teachers whose positions are eliminated due to budget cuts or enrollment declines.
Teachers in the Absent Teacher Reserve who are not qualified or have disciplinary records should be offered alternate employment within the DOE or given the opportunity to resign or retire.
Key Data
23,000
— Number of employees who leave the municipal workforce annually.
7.1 percent
— Average annual separation rate for the municipal workforce.
14,000
— Number of full-time and full-time equivalent positions the workforce shrank by over two years following the Great Recession.
$136 million
— Amount the City spent on the Absent Teacher Reserve in fiscal year 2018.
$80 million
— Annual savings target for the Absent Teacher Reserve.
New York City faces a significant fiscal crisis that necessitates $1 billion in recurring labor savings, which can be achieved by managing attrition and filling fewer vacancies rather than resorting to layoffs. By leveraging the annual departure of approximately 23,000 employees, the city can reduce its workforce and associated costs without the negative impacts of widespread terminations.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The City should prioritize reducing headcount through attrition rather than layoffs, as approximately 23,000 employees leave the municipal workforce annually.
City leaders should fill only a portion of vacancies to achieve workforce reduction targets, as filling half of the annual vacancies would reduce headcount by more than 10,000 annually.
The City should implement early retirement incentives to encourage eligible employees to retire, though these should be carefully structured to ensure net savings.
The City should rebalance the workforce through targeted hiring, as attrition allows for more strategic control over which positions are filled compared to layoffs.
The City should redefine or create new job titles that better reflect modern operations to allow for more flexible and efficient use of the workforce.
Key Data
23,000
— Number of employees who leave the municipal workforce annually.
7.1%
— Average annual separation rate of the municipal workforce.
10,000
— Number of positions by which the workforce would be reduced annually if the City filled half of the vacancies.
14,000
— Number of full-time and full-time equivalent positions the workforce shrank by over two years following the Great Recession.
23,000
— Number of positions the workforce would be reduced by within three years if the City filled almost two-thirds of vacancies.
New York City municipal employment reached an all-time high of 326,739 at the end of fiscal year 2019, representing an 11.3 percent increase since the fiscal year 2012 trough. To address looming budget gaps and fiscal instability, the administration must implement a strategy to reduce the workforce size while minimizing service impacts.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The Administration should act now to shrink the workforce with the least impact on services.
The Adopted Budget should show the decline in headcount that will be needed to manage the next few fiscal years.
Key Data
326,739
— All-time high municipal employment reached at the end of fiscal year 2019.
33,189
— Increase in municipal employment from the fiscal year 2012 trough to the end of fiscal year 2019.
15,721
— Number of positions in fiscal year 2019 greater than the prior peak in fiscal year 2008.
The city budget should prioritize fiscal responsibility by eliminating the 4,700 remaining full-time vacant positions to generate savings. This approach would build upon the 1,600 vacancies already removed in the mayor's executive budget proposal.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The city should wipe out more of the 4,700 full-time vacancies still remaining to identify further savings.
Key Data
1,600
— Number of vacancies eliminated in the mayor's executive budget.
4,700
— Number of full-time vacancies remaining that the city should eliminate.
Hiring more uniformed employees is not an effective solution to excessive overtime costs because both the Fire Department and Department of Correction are already staffed at budgeted levels. Instead, controlling these costs requires negotiating work rule changes in labor contracts and reforming the sick leave policy to address high rates of absenteeism.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The City should avoid relying on hiring more uniformed employees as a solution, as both agencies are already staffed at budgeted levels.
The City should implement a comprehensive strategy to address high absenteeism and reform the sick leave policy, which currently grants unlimited sick time to uniformed employees.
The City must negotiate work rule changes in the next round of labor contracts to address the root causes of excessive overtime.
Management and labor must develop better strategies to control overtime costs by coming to the table to negotiate.
Key Data
$1.2 billion
— Total uniformed overtime earned by employees in fiscal year 2016.
$19,400
— Average overtime earned per uniformed employee in fiscal year 2016.
53 percent
— Portion of the uniformed workforce earning overtime pay in excess of 20 percent of base salary in fiscal year 2016.
$272 million
— Uniformed overtime spending at the FDNY in fiscal year 2017.
$240 million
— Uniformed overtime spending at the DOC in fiscal year 2017.
$250 million
— The revised FDNY uniformed overtime budget for fiscal year 2018.
New York City's municipal workforce has expanded significantly, reaching a projected 331,520 employees by the end of fiscal year 2019 and adding billions in annual compensation and long-term liabilities. To manage these rising costs and potential economic risks, the city should implement stricter controls on headcount growth, including the elimination of unnecessary vacant positions and a thorough review of existing assignments.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The City should change the default assumption that vacant positions will be retained and filled.
Vacant positions should be reviewed, assessed, and if unneeded, removed from the budget for all years of the financial plan.
Agencies should be required to look for opportunities to redeploy existing staff or utilize vacant lines when a new initiative is added, rather than creating new positions.
Agencies should be required to justify why a new responsibility cannot be completed with existing resources.
The City should undertake a review of all positions to identify obsolete assignments that could be replaced by technology, integrated into other positions, or eliminated.
Key Data
331,520
— Projected number of municipal employees by the end of fiscal year 2019.
$2.5 billion
— Gross annual compensation costs in fiscal year 2019 for 26,436 new full-time employees.
$520.5 million
— Estimated total long-term costs associated with additional hires in fiscal year 2019.
13,226
— Net reduction of full-time positions from fiscal year 2008 to 2012 during the Great Recession.
$56.2 billion
— Unfunded pension liability at the end of fiscal year 2017.
$88.4 billion
— Unfunded OPEB liability at the end of fiscal year 2017.
The Citywide Savings Program relies heavily on re-estimates and funding shifts, including savings from vacant positions, rather than efficiency improvements. The administration should require agencies to identify efficiency improvements to generate the next $500 million in savings.
The NYC Preliminary Budget for FY2018 raises critical questions regarding the city's fiscal health, including whether headcount growth and savings from vacant positions will be accurately reported. It also examines potential budgetary pressures from homeless shelter costs exceeding $1.5 billion, police overtime, and the financial stability of NYC Health + Hospitals and the New York City Housing Authority, which faces $17 billion in unmet capital needs.
New York City's proposal to hire 1,000 new police officers at an annual cost of nearly $100 million is unnecessary given that the department already maintains a higher officer-to-resident ratio than the average of the 50 most populous U.S. cities. Instead of expanding the force, the city could achieve similar patrol increases by hiring civilian administrative aids to replace the 730 officers currently performing non-patrol duties.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The city should prioritize hiring police administrative aids to free up 500 officers for patrol duty, which is more cost-effective than hiring new officers.
The city should focus on moving officers performing civilian roles to patrol to increase patrol presence without hiring new staff.
Negotiations should be focused on ways to control overtime expenditures within the police department.
The department should pursue administrative restructuring to improve efficiency rather than simply adding 1,000 new officers.
The department should consider reassigning officers on administrative duty to precincts to address staffing needs without additional hiring.
Key Data
$26.3 million
— Annual cost to hire police administrative aids to free up 500 officers for patrol duty.
730
— Number of police officers currently performing civilian functions.
41.7
— Number of police officers per 10,000 New Yorkers.
23.8
— Average number of police officers per 10,000 residents among the 50 most populous U.S. cities.
17.8
— Number of civilian employees per 10,000 residents in the NYPD.
6.6
— Average number of civilian employees per 10,000 residents among the 50 most populous U.S. cities.
New York City's November 2012 budget gap reduction program relies heavily on non-recurring resources and limited personnel cuts, with a significant portion of headcount reductions achieved through attrition rather than layoffs. While the program eliminates some vacant positions, structural deficits driven by rising health insurance and debt service costs suggest that further budget adjustments will likely be necessary.
Key Data
627
— Total number of positions to be eliminated in fiscal year 2013, with all but 35 achieved through attrition.
1,218
— Total number of positions to be reduced in fiscal year 2014, including 120 layoffs.
100
— Number of civilian positions at the Department of Corrections that were eliminated because they were currently vacant.
385
— Number of positions eliminated at the Human Resources Administration through a multi-year effort to use technology to improve services.
240
— Number of positions eliminated due to the canceled re-opening of the Department of Correction’s Queens Detention Center.
New York State faces a significant budget gap that requires a more comprehensive approach to labor costs than short-term fixes, including a reevaluation of state employment levels. By choosing not to fill 16,000 vacant positions expected through attrition, the state could achieve estimated savings of $800 million.
Recommendations related to Vacant Positions
The need to fill any position in State government in the coming year should be reexamined.
The State should not fill the 16,000 positions expected to be vacated through attrition to achieve estimated savings of $800 million.
Part of the negotiations with the public employee unions should include adding hours to the workweek in order to reduce needed staffing levels and overtime.
Key Data
16,000
— Number of full-time positions expected to be vacated through attrition in the coming year.
$800 million
— Estimated savings from not filling 16,000 vacant positions.
4,053
— Total three-year reduction in full-time employment if Executive proposals are accepted.
2 percent
— Total three-year reduction in full-time employment as a percentage of the workforce.
3,640
— Number of positions by which State employment has been reduced since the fiscal crisis began.
1.6 percent
— Percentage reduction in State employment since the fiscal crisis began.
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