October 28, 2008
"Hard"hiring freeze turns slushy
Despite Governor David Paterson's July 30 "hard" hiring freeze, the state has hired 31,684 employees, the Buffalo News reports.
The numbers suggest the difficulties a governor can run into when trying to wrestle with personnel costs, since, no matter the economic challenges, public colleges still have to hire professors, mental health facilities still need nurses, and the transportation department still must have bridge inspectors.
At the time the freeze was announced, state agencies were told, "Until further notice, only absolutely essential positions will be filled." The Division of Budget had to approve all exceptions. The Buffalo News unsuccessfully sought copies of waivers to justify hirings.
Excluded from the hiring freeze were a number of agencies, including the State University, comptroller's office and attorney general's office. The News reports:
The hirings run the gamut: lawyers, nurses, road workers, janitors and a new scheduling director for Paterson.
Three-quarters--24,730--of the people hired since the freeze were within the state and city university systems at the start of the fall semester. The round of hiring included professors and thousands of adjunct professors, student assistants and teaching assistants. A spokesman for the budget division said "All hiring done since the hiring freeze was implemented has been done for the narrowly defined purposes of ensuring the health and safety of the public, generating revenue or providing essential staff to support agencies' core missions."
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