Turnover and vacancy rates for state workers — likely caused by record low unemployment rates paired with an aging workforce nearing retirement age — rose to record levels last fiscal year, with agencies that staff prisons, veterans homes and treatment facilities experiencing some of the biggest workforce challenges, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum.
The report, released Tuesday, shows that despite pay increases for some state workers in those departments last year, state agencies such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Corrections and Department of Health Services continue to struggle to fully staff their workforce needs.
Among agencies that fall outside the University of Wisconsin System, 16.4% of the state’s nearly 28,000 workers left their jobs in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022, including 10.2% who left for voluntary reasons other than retirement, according to the report. What’s more, 5,770 full-time equivalent positions, or 17.7% of the total positions in state government outside the UW System, were vacant at the end of last June.
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“Rarely do labor data paint so clear a picture: employees in Wisconsin’s state agencies are departing at record rates and leaving a rising number of vacancies in their wake,” the report states. “Private-sector turnover has fallen somewhat since the summer of 2022 and it is possible the same has happened within state government, but absent an economic downturn it is likely to remain an issue.”
Veterans Affairs had the highest turnover rate among all agencies, with more than one out of every four employees, or 27.8%, turning over last year. The Department of Corrections’ turnover rate rose to 19.3%, while the Department of Health Services reached 19%.
The agencies operate a host of facilities, including nursing homes for veterans, prisons, secure psychiatric institutions and centers for people with intellectual disabilities and behavioral health needs.
“High turnover and vacancies in these facilities can require employees to work more overtime, potentially increasing costs for the state as well as creating further turnover in some cases,” according to the report, which notes that turnover appears to have been driven largely by individuals leaving voluntarily for a variety of reasons such as finding new employment elsewhere.
While those three agencies saw the highest level of turnover last year, the report notes that 15 out of the state’s 20 largest departments experienced in 2022 their highest rate of voluntary separation in the last decade.
The report notes that some of the state’s turnover is likely due to low unemployment rates. Preliminary data from the state Department of Workforce Development show the state’s unemployment rate at a record low 2.4% in April. Wisconsin reported more than 3 million jobs in April, or 9,600 more jobs than the pre-COVID-19 peak in January 2020.
Another factor is pay, the report adds. From June 2020 to June 2022, the rate of inflation reached nearly 15%, but none of the eight job categories examined by the Forum saw pay increases of more than about 12%. Half of the job categories saw pay increases of less than half the rate of inflation.
The report comes as Republicans who control Wisconsin’s budget committee draft their version of the state’s 2023-25 biennial budget. Lawmakers enter the two-year budget process with a roughly $7 billion state surplus, the highest in state history.
One component of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ budget proposes pay raises for corrections officers. The governor said in March the state’s justice system is “on the brink of collapse.”
A $4-an-hour pay bump for corrections officers, funded by pandemic relief money, expires this month. Evers has requested in his two-year spending plan funds to boost correctional officer pay by about $13 an hour.
In March, Rep. Michael Schraa, the Republican chair of the Assembly Corrections Committee, called Evers’ proposal unrealistic. Schraa said he was considering a $7-an-hour raise for correctional officers — an amount he said would likely disappoint employees after Evers’ proposal.
The budget committee is slated to take up discussion of the Department of Corrections at its Thursday meeting.
In addition to pandemic funds, officers working at maximum security prisons, where staffing shortages have been acute, are eligible for a $2-an-hour bonus.
In prisons where staffing vacancies are more than 40%, officers receive a $5-an-hour bonus. Seven prisons across the state, including three maximum security facilities, meet those criteria.
“It also should be recognized that pay is not the only factor impacting retention and recruitment; for example, over the last three years, starting pay for corrections officers has risen by 37%, far outpacing even the already steep rate of inflation, and a more robust pay progression system for state security positions has also been implemented,” the Forum notes. “Given the increase, a deeper look by policymakers into other factors such as working conditions may also be warranted.”
