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* UPDATED x1 - AFSCME responds * Pritzker announces plan to address staff shortage

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* We have a lot of veterans of government on this blog, so I’m curious what y’all think of this proposal…

Governor Pritzker today announced new measures as part of the ongoing efforts to address staffing shortages in the State of Illinois’ agencies that provide essential health and safety services to Illinois’ most vulnerable residents. The State is working to fill vacancies and hire thousands of frontline staff in the Departments of Human Services, Corrections, and Veteran’s Affairs. Interested individuals may visit work.illinois.gov to apply and search for jobs by agency, title, or county.

“Since COVID-19 upended our State—and world—we have experienced severe labor shortages that disproportionately impact our most vulnerable residents,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “That’s why we are launching a laser-focused recruitment and retention strategy to attract quality professionals in the social services and healthcare fields. No matter the challenges of today’s job market, our administration is mobilizing every available resource to make sure every resident has access to the critical services they need and deserve.”

Like many employers across the nation, including other governmental bodies, the State is facing an increasingly challenging job market. In the two years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government sector in the U.S. has lost over 600,000 workers, which is more than manufacturing, wholesale trade, and construction industries combined. Additionally, the healthcare industry has suffered significant labor shortage issues due to burnout from the pandemic. To address the staffing challenges faced by many of our service agencies, the following immediate actions will be taken:

• On an emergency basis, the Department of Central Management Services (CMS) will develop and implement a State-wide recruiting campaign focused on direct care staff serving in State mental health centers, homes for persons with developmental disabilities, and veterans’ homes, as well as staff supporting the State’s corrections facilities.
• On an emergency basis, CMS will assess, draft, and implement retention measures targeting employees at facilities that are open 24/7, which are unique and may require specialized resources. Given the financial and operational costs resulting from extensive employee turnover and unfilled positions in these vital functions, it is critical the State take as many steps as possible to address retention.
• CMS, working with the Departments of Human Services (DHS), Veterans’ Affairs (DVA), and Corrections (DOC), is directed to leverage all existing State resources and community partnerships available. This includes expanding their recruitment teams and partnering with the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) to amplify available vacancies to those individuals who are experiencing unemployment. Additionally, IDES is directed to send targeted outreach to those receiving unemployment insurance benefits or participating in the State’s Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment program.
• CMS, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and IDES are directed to leverage existing local workforce partners to encourage additional targeted outreach intended to bolster the applicant pool of qualified candidates for State jobs. These agencies are also directed to increase virtual job fairs across State platforms to recruit new workers.

Today’s announcement emphasizes Governor Pritzker’s commitment to increasing the State’s workforce and ensuring employees have sufficient resources to continue to provide the service that Illinois residents expect. Through these efforts, the State is looking to build and retain its workforce with concentration in the following positions: correctional officers, physicians, nurses, mental health technicians, support service workers, social workers, security therapy aids, security officers, and other critical positions that support the health and safety of the State’s residents.

These steps are the latest in a series of initiatives designed to prepare, attract, and retain the necessary talent pool for roles in State government. Continued efforts include:

Marketing and Recruitment for Critical Vacancies

Since taking office, Governor Pritzker’s Administration has worked to implement practices to attract talent to its workforce:

• Revamped Hiring Processes – The State has implemented a new electronic application and hiring processes for all State positions which allows job seekers to search for and apply to jobs online, including using mobile devices. Visit work.illinois.gov to learn more about job opportunities with the State of Illinois.
• Expanded Outreach – The Bureau of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) within CMS administers the State’s workforce diversity programs and coordinates closely with the Governor’s Office of Equity and the African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, and Native American Employment Plan Advisory Councils, made up of community activists from across the State. Over the last two years, CMS has created or participated in more than 69 outreach and recruitment events.
• Increased Recruitment – Since the beginning of 2021, State agencies, including CMS, DVA, DHS, and DOC have participated in 549 job fairs and hiring events. Recruiting teams also met with prospective employees at the 2022 Illinois State Fair in Springfield and the State Fair in DuQuoin. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Governor’s Tent at the Illinois State Fair in DuQuoin to learn more about State employment, set up job alerts, and apply for vacancies on the spot.
• Improved Career Counseling Services – CMS counseling staff work with internal and external candidates to evaluate their education and experience as well as employment interests/preferences, salary expectations, and geographical location to determine job titles that are the best fit for their future success. Career counselors also assist applicants with applying to State positions for which they may qualify.

Retention of Existing Staff

State employees make a difference every day in the lives of their fellow residents. Nowhere is that difference more tangible than in residential facilities, where State employees are entrusted with providing safe, healthy, and thriving environments. The benefits of State employment include more than just the satisfaction of purpose-driven work. In addition to generous healthcare benefits, robust paid time off, including paid parental leave, and pension benefits, the State has continued to implement and enhance employee benefits and retention measures:

• Career Mobility - Upward Mobility Program (UMP), the career mobility program administered jointly with the State’s largest labor partner, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), is designed to give State employees an opportunity to advance to more challenging, higher paying positions through targeted career counseling and direct-paid educational and training opportunities.
• Ongoing Professional Development - CMS University, a web-based, continuing education and professional development site to assist all State employees. Through curated sessions and live events, employees can expand their knowledge or brush up on tools to support their work.
• Be Well Illinois, the State’s employee wellness program, launched in January 2021 by CMS to improve the overall health and wellness of the State’s workforce. Be Well Illinois uses a comprehensive approach to wellness and incorporates educational resources and activities designed to improve physical, financial and mental health and raise awareness about the benefits of healthy eating, exercise and cultural topics.
• MyBenefits Plus program, an expanded voluntary benefits program to attract prospective employees and support retirees and active employees of the State. This program includes legal services, pet, auto, home, hospital indemnity, critical illness and accident insurance offerings that complement State-sponsored programs.
• Purchasing Power program allows employees to make major purchases such as computers, appliances, electronics and more when paying with cash or credit is not an option. Participants receive their product up front and pay over 6 or 12 months directly from their paycheck.
• COVID-19 support programs for employees throughout the pandemic including a specialized mobile-enabled micro-website, with information about vaccinations, workplace updates, and resources guides for employees.

*** UPDATE *** From AFSCME Council 31…

Statement of AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch in response to Pritzker Administration’s hiring initiative

“We welcome Governor Pritzker’s initiative to address critical staffing shortages in state agencies where employees care for veterans, treat mental illness, support people with developmental disabilities and safely incarcerate and rehabilitate those convicted of crimes.

“Nearly 7,000 positions in state government were vacant at the start of 2022. Especially hard-hit are 24/7 facilities such as veterans’ homes, prisons, psychiatric hospitals, and centers for people with developmental disabilities. Also of great concern is understaffing in the Department of Children and Family Services, which is charged with protecting children from abuse and neglect. As a result, in all of these settings, employees are burning out, safety is at risk, and overtime costs are rising.

“AFSCME members on the front lines struggle daily to provide essential services despite the challenges of working short-staffed. Earlier this month, Governor Pritzker met with a group of our local union leaders who work in these settings and could describe firsthand the difficulties they and their coworkers face.

“With today’s announcement, the Pritzker Administration is moving forward to reduce the bureaucratic delays in the state hiring process that have been so frustrating to so many, and to redouble its efforts to recruit needed new hires. In the days ahead our union will do everything possible to advance these efforts.

“AFSCME members in state government are helpers, problem solvers, people who are dedicated to serving their community. They earn a family-supporting wage, affordable health care and a pension that provides for dignity in retirement. We urge anyone looking for a good job doing good work in their community to apply.”

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 11:51 am

Comments

Sounds good to me in principle. We’ve had 3 decades of targeting and shrinking the state work force, and all we have to show for it is agencies that can’t keep up with their missions.

I’m a little leery of running this, or anything else, through CMS, but I applaud the effort.

Comment by Arsenal Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 11:55 am
It’s a parlor trick. CMS is taking 4-6 months just to get a grade. I just found out last week that a job I applied for in January was filled (not with me, obviously…). Who is “looking for work” and can wait most of a year to get a job? Employers are forced to be competitive in this market; the departments listed do not offer much with Tier 2 benefits for recent college grads or others looking to advance careers in mid-life.

Comment by CentralILCentrist Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 11:56 am
Interesting that DCFS wasn’t mentioned… a lot of the issues in that agency seem to stem from administrators forced to act in the role of caseworkers due to staffing shortages.

Comment by bisonbison Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 11:59 am
Avoiding the key issue: People are applying for jobs, but if they’re not a current employee or a veteran (the state has a veterans preference in hiring), the hiring department can’t act on their application. Unless they’re willing to expand options for agencies to hire people who apply, which AFSCME would not allow, this problem will only persist.

Comment by NIU Grad Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 12:00 pm
Increased outreach and showing openness is great and needed. A lot of people still think you need to know someone to get a state gig. For recent grads, why not dust off an old idea George Ryan had for IT staff. If you work for the State for 3 years, a bonus will be applied directly to reducing your student loan debt. Also, why make permanent the Health Care Professional Temporary Practice Permit. Hit #1 - Too many people are turning 65 everyday (this was coming no matter what). Hit #2 - Too many people took early retirement during the pandemic.

Comment by levivotedforjudy Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 12:05 pm
Since the Shakman consent decree was vacated by 7th U.S. Court of Appeals this month - you knew this was coming. Patronage hiring back on.

Comment by Donnie Elgin Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 12:15 pm
I’m old enough to remember when people had to buy a lot of fundraising tickets to get a job like these.

Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 12:18 pm
I’m surprised that removing marijuana from the drug testing panel isn’t listed. This is a very real deterrent for the millennial college grad candidates from what I keep hearing. But good on the rest of the ideas! I mean, at least someone is trying.

Comment by NeveroddoreveN Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 12:22 pm
==Patronage hiring back on. ==

Don’t be silly, this is just a marketing campaign. All of the protections that the special master insisted upon are still in place, she herself just no longer gets to bill for watching the process.

Moreover, I doubt that JB’s political cronies are really just dying to frontline health care providers.

Comment by Arsenal Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 12:31 pm
This should make the next contract negotiations interesting. Top of the line for retention, especially of Professional staff, would be salaries keeping up with the job market. Also helps to attract more qualified people if State wages aren’t a step down. Going to be hard to do an across the board raise to bring Professionals into competition with the Market without over hiking clerical and prison guards.

Comment by Mason born Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 12:33 pm
1. Create direct path hiring programs for skilled worker positions from education into a job. Ie. You go to school at UIC nursing, you can get a job at a State nursing facility.
2. CMS needs to work faster on approving jobs for agencies.
3. Streamline application to hire timetable. Right now many jobs post for 2 or 3 weeks, then they go to CMS for grading. Then the agency sets up interviews. Then those interviews are graded. Then the agency makes a pick. You are talking 2-3 months at least from posting to hire. That does not include however long it took to get approval to post the job. Post to hire should be no more than 6 weeks.
4. CMS University is garbage. It needs to be accredited for continuing education for the many professions that have CE requirements. In house CE is very useful.
5. New hire bonuses, loan repayment grants, other benefits. Additional tax credits/deductions for being a public sector worker. Like let me invest my money in State Investment funds. Let me take extremely low interest rate loans from the state.

Comment by Unionman Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 12:36 pm
I’m going to sound like an old fuddy duddy and will probably get certain people / groups screaming the roof off. So be it.

Hiring - aside from the long convoluted hiring process, I see two big problems

a) The past villianization of the State workforce. Who wants to work for the State when you’re seen as incompetent slackers?

b) The up-credentialization of all job positions. The degree requirements are almost ridiculous for a lot of the positions. I know it was intended to try to make the workforce more professional, but I think they (CMS) went overboard on it. Heck, I under the new requirements, I wouldn’t qualify for any of the jobs I held.

Retention - I’m obviously going to be speaking from a personal viewpoint. The way to retain people is to make them WANT to stay around. The following are all ways the State made people want to leave.

c) again, the villianization. People don’t stay where they aren’t made to fill valuable.

d) salaries; specifically the ability for exceptional employees to be rewarded. The problem there is all the titles in the union, and the insurance on everyone making the same regardless of merit

e) the whole convoluted process of career advancement that requires bidding on a new position, usually outside your expertise, just to be able to advance to the next higher title and earn more money

f) if the State isn’t going to drastically raise salaries, they need to come up with another financial incentive. I’m going to suggest they bring back the Tier 1 pensions. Costly, yes … but that one of the reasons I stayed all the years I did, and a lot of people I know did for the same reason.

g) the State needs to have managers who are more professional instead of a lot of the political hacks I encountered during my career with the State. This is one area where more credentials and training could make a huge difference.

Bottom line is that the State needs to value their employees …

I’m off to pop some popcorn for the show …

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 12:44 pm
I’m going to echo what some have already said. It takes far too long to get a position posted and then filled, often upwards of six months. And because Illinois passed a law that won’t allow you to consider previous pay, we’re now having to start new, professional hires at the lowest step. The market for professionals in our industry is highly competitive and no one would even consider coming to the state for that kind of pay. We often receive zero applicants when a position is posted.

Comment by This is ridiculous Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 12:51 pm
They need to speed up the whole process.
For example, the groups I am involved with hiring on, took more than a year just to post the positions (3 agencies involved in this) positions posted Aug 2021 and we still have no people more than a year after posting. BTW the positions were label critical positions taking this long.
If I applied, and got notified a year later for interview, I wouldn’t take it assuming the organization doesn’t have it’s stuff together.

Comment by Union thug Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 12:52 pm
Job retention: I can say that there are people who have mentioned wanting to leave the state positions they are in for other positions but love the partial work from home benefits enough that they are staying.

Those are temporarily approved currently, I think the perk is keeping those with other options around long enough through their underpaid first years in steps 1c, 1b, 1a that they might be inclined to stick it out instead of using the job as a foot in the door to the state system.

Comment by Seats Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 12:54 pm
All the Governors press releases read the same way. He is focused, committed, inclusionary. When I send skilled individuals to the website link for employment opportunities with State Government, they either get no response, or a response several months later. By then, they are working elsewhere with someone who expressed an interest in them. Not exactly a welcoming way to entice new employees.

Comment by Louis G Atsaves Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 12:57 pm
I don’t see the focus on more recruiting having much impact. The issue is that people don’t see the State as a good place to work and finding more ways to tell them about State jobs doesn’t fix that problem.

If they really want to increase the work force, they need to do three things:

1) Improve the compensation for newer employees. The pay is good at the top end of many classifications, but the starting pay isn’t remotely competitive. That’s especially true after they eliminated the ability to ask workers about their previous pay. Some agencies responded to that change by offering every new employee the lowest possible salary. It’s not a surprise that you can’t get employees when you do that.

2) Improve the working conditions. There are some very good state managers, but there are also some that do everything possible to make their employees’ lives difficult. For example, many managers have forced employees to stop working from home for no good reason.

3) Develop internal training programs. Upward Mobility relies completely on outside educational institutions who provide general education that is not directly applicable to most State jobs. The State should put more into teaching people what they need to move to a better job in the work environment.

Comment by NickNombre Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 1:10 pm
Just as a response to some of what has been said above - very shortly grading won’t be an issue. Grades are going away. It’s all online now and you get a score. Also, absolute veterans preference is going away. Veterans will get extra points in their application scores.

Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 1:10 pm
A few thoughts . . .
Professionalize the HR Function. During the Blago years much of HR was converted to a politicized rubber stamp job. It drove out the hundreds of years of experience in a complex arena of legislative mandates, complex rules, multiple bargaining units, literal life and death issues, and a 24/7/365 environment. We need a career ladder to build up the skills that were lost. You simply cannot come in from the outside into a top tier position and expect to succeed.

Make DEI a Centerpiece. Right now, “fair” is mostly decided by middle-aged, middle-class, people from central Illinois. It’s good that it’s part of the conversation but I don’t see any meaningful progress.

Stop Treating Job Applicants Like Criminals. I don’t know why people from outside the system take jobs from the state after sitting through an interview with a complex set of rules, no opportunity for feedback, and are told, “If the interview panel members suspect that you are referencing any source of material to help aide you in your response, the interview panel will warn you of the suspicion and fail you for that question. If the suspicion continues, the interview will be terminated, and you will no longer be considered for this position.” I’m trying to see if you are a good fit for an office position, not if you are eligible to guard a nuclear reactor. I judge employers during the interview as well. Illinois doesn’t look so good.

Keep Working on the Online System. It stinks. Lots of positions don’t fit into the nice tidy categories that were created. There are still folks in this world who are not tech savvy and don’t have access to computers. We still need a way to recruit folks that doesn’t rely on a computer.

Increase Remote Work Opportunities. Butts are not required in seats for so many positions. And remote work is an important screen-out issue for many talented job seekers. Let’s not get screened out for this issue.

Create a Path from Internship to Employment. The UIS Government Public Services Internship Program is amazing. It provides the state with high quality graduate interns that get great experience. After two years of investing in and training these students, we have no way to hire them.

Comment by Sangamo Girl Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 1:14 pm
“And because Illinois passed a law that won’t allow you to consider previous pay, we’re now having to start new, professional hires at the lowest step. The market for professionals in our industry is highly competitive and no one would even consider coming to the state for that kind of pay. We often receive zero applicants when a position is posted.”

This. The person or people who thought that hiring everyone at the bottom of the pay scale was the proper response to this law should all be working elsewhere. The point was to eliminate the continuation of discriminatory pay practices from other employers, not drag everyone down to the lowest level.

Comment by NickNombre Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 1:17 pm
What RNUG said.

Comment by very old soil Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 1:17 pm
I’m super glad to see the Governor acting on hiring in response to the meeting AFSCME had with the governor about hiring. Maybe this weekend is what happens when an effective union successfully advocates for its members. Wouldn’t you say OW? I’m sure you’re going to say correlation but I see a face to face meeting on this very subject with the exact agencies we brought up and this announcement as causation. That’s real enough for me.

Comment by Honeybear Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 1:18 pm
” … which AFSCME would not allow … .”

The elephant in the room. AFSCME has the attitude that everyone should start at the bottom as messengers / clerks and be internally promoted upward, and that Veteran’s Preference is a federal Supremes protected obstacle to be overcome. Some quietly advocate if a position requires a professional license (engineer, for example), the agency should pay to educate current employees before directly hiring outsiders.

Other states have had this same issue. The elephant in the room.

Comment by Anyone Remember Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 1:19 pm
Keep work from home for any position that can do it. Too many no-nothing micromanagers are chomping at the bit to get us back even though we are as
productive, if not more so, than before. With the new finesse system, all phone jobs can, and have, been done from home. For many of our jobs we don’t even have to remote in. Install Microsoft office products on your laptop and log in with your work ID. But too many mid level managers don’t know what to do if they don’t have employees in the offices to terrorize. I know a lot of people that will bounce from their office, the agency, or even state service entirely once work from home ends. WFH is what is making the job bearable.

Comment by DHS Drone Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 1:24 pm
The agency doing the hiring needs to be provided the whole list of eligible candidates who meet the bare minimum education and certifications required. CMS does not know the skill set an agency is looking for, especially for highly technical positions. CMS provide agencies with a list of their choosing from some random list generating bingoball.
Candidates need to know where there application stands in the review process. They receive no feedback, sometimes receiving a grade…often times not. I know someone applying for state work who has applied for 30+ positions, and received an A grade on a small handful…never an interview.
New employees are not staying. Constant training and mistakes that go with inexperience are sapping the energy from existing staff.

Comment by Johnnie F. Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 1:28 pm
RNUG has good insight. I would add from my own experiences: Everybody in the same title in the same step makes equal pay, so what incentive is there to do more than the bare minimum? If you do better work than your equally titled coworkers, you just end up doing more work and being more stressed. The agency will dump as much work as it can on the competent employees. They are more than happy to use and abuse you because a coworker is unproductive. Additionally, one can see the path to move up, put in the extra effort, patiently wait for the spot to open, and then watch a connected person you’ve never heard of get “airdropped” in.

Comment by Ancient State Employee Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 1:35 pm
Also, many people worked for agencies as contract employees during the pandemic or other situation. These individuals should at least be afforded an interview opportunity for positions they qualify for. They often times are fully trained but can not even get a interview in an agency they are trained to work in.

Comment by Johnnie F. Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 1:37 pm
The whole process has been a mess for years. CMS deserves much of the blame, but so does AFSCME. Too many promotions are most senior person in bargaining unit - even though the jobs are not related and many times the most senior person is the laziest employee.

Comment by Southern Dude Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 1:54 pm
One thing they could do is get rid of union rights to positions. Let the best person have the job. If it is the union member, then fine. But don’t give it to them automatically.

Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 1:56 pm
=== One thing they could do is get rid of union rights to positions. Let the best person have the job. If it is the union member, then fine. But don’t give it to them automatically. ===

Agreed but don’t see it happening.

Comment by Southern Dude Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 2:03 pm
Need to create a way that these agencies dont have to go through CMS. Its the biggest boondogle of an agency that basically prevents the state from getting quality people hired in a quick manner. Just my two cents. I know it will bever happen but this is whay every agency needs people.

Comment by BluegrassBoy Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 2:13 pm
As someone who works for another state agency not under the governor, or AFSCME and having at least three dozen applications in but cannot apply for “internal” postings, maybe a change in that policy. Also, the length in time in responding is way longer than needed.

Comment by nunya Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 2:16 pm
CMS pile-on day, yay. Charging CMS with this job is lik e hiring the arsonist to fight his own fire. Their internal workings are glacial and inept and for years were setup to slow hiring, if anything.

Comment by Give Us Barabbas Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 2:23 pm
==Not exactly a welcoming way to entice new employees. ==

Good thing JB just announced that he wants to change that!

Comment by Arsenal Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 2:36 pm
CMS or DoIT… It’s hard to decide which one is the greatest drag on Illinois government efficiency.

Comment by NickNombre Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 2:46 pm
IDOC front line shortages…I’m not sure it would help a lot but 75 day contracts (or something similar) for retired security to fill in as something of a substitute teacher to keep younger guys from getting mandated and burning out. Sign up to stay on a call list as a potential fill in and gain a nice pay check in addition to their pension.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 2:51 pm
Nick Nombre -

DoIT. CMS, for all it’s faults, isn’t foisting ERPs on agencies.

Comment by Anyone Remember Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 3:19 pm
“One thing they could do is get rid of union rights to positions. Let the best person have the job. If it is the union member, then fine. But don’t give it to them automatically.”

I couldn’t possibly agree more. It’s ludicrous.

Comment by This is ridiculous Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 3:34 pm
Best way to recruit and retain is get rid of the CMS mess and allow agencies to hire directly. Continue to allow remote or hybrid work. It’s a simple benefit to inverse work life balance that current and potential employees are now wanting.

Comment by Amurica Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 3:37 pm
People with recent experience have told me that the new online job application system is a nightmare.

Agree with most of RNUG’s points (I’m also an RNUG, but not the RNUG) but don’t think Tier 1 will ever come back. The Tier 1 pension kept me going the last 10 years of state employment.

I don’t know what will motivate the Tier 2 people to stick around. Used to be that state medical insurance was really good. Not so much anymore.

Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 6:18 pm
“Best way to recruit and retain is get rid of the CMS mess and allow agencies to hire directly. Continue to allow remote or hybrid work. It’s a simple benefit to inverse work life balance that current and potential employees are now wanting.”

Amurica, the nail said you hurt it when you hit it on the head.

I asked Gov. Pritzker last week what he felt about remote work continuing. I haven’t talked to a single co-worker that’s working remotely that doesn’t like it. I can get more work done working remotely than I can at work. It saves the state money on unneeded office space, utilities, and supplies, and it’s more productive than on-site work. It’s a win for everyone and needs to be made permanent.

Comment by Fivegreenleaves Wednesday, Aug 31, 22 @ 6:20 pm
AFSCME had a nice diplomatic reply. Must be expecting some consideration in return.

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Sep 1, 22 @ 1:03 am
There is an easy solution that used to be part of the hiring, but was done away with. Some positions were continuous postings. That’s been done away with. Make positions continuous postings, that way people can get grades for them, then be placed into a hiring/promotion pool. Conduct interview on those in the pool, then choose one to fill the position. If their employment is terminated, go back to the pool and choose the next person. It took my wife 2 months to be hired. It took me 4 months to be promoted. Back then, our positions were continuous postings. That needs to be brought back.

Comment by Fivegreenleaves Thursday, Sep 1, 22 @ 6:00 am
“People with recent experience have told me that the new online job application system is a nightmare.”

Have first hand experience. It is a nightmare. What used to be a simple process, hand in an application to personnel has turned into a complex mess.

Comment by Huh? Thursday, Sep 1, 22 @ 9:00 am
And maybe they can do away with the computerized testing for positions that require a degree of some level; the tests themselves were laughable to the point where if you couldn’t pass a sample test shown on the job site, you shouldn’t be in public without a chaperon.

Comment by thisjustinagain Thursday, Sep 1, 22 @ 12:46 pm
Where I’m working (state mental health center) they have gone to hiring lots of contractors at higher pay rates for the professional roles. I’m shocked afscme has allowed so many roles to go to contractors. It’s like they don’t care about these roles anymore.

Comment by Anon1234 Thursday, Sep 1, 22 @ 2:17 pm