NC has a major state worker shortage
Three-fifths of state agencies have fewer employees than they did a decade ago. As of last year, state agencies had more than one-fifth of their positions unfilled.
While working at WRAL in December, I requested public records to examine the magnitude of the labor shortage in North Carolina state government. On Feb. 19, WRAL published a story using data I obtained as its basis. The story didn’t make any reference to my contribution, and a subsequent request I made for a public clarification note went unanswered, as did a request for a private explanation of its attribution policies and private disclosure of a personnel matter.
After WRAL’s story ran without updates or a response, I re-requested public records from the State Office of Human Resources, which was fulfilled on Wednesday. This post and the underlying data are being made available to the public in the interest of transparency. To access Anderson Alerts like these going forward, you can upgrade to a paid $5 monthly subscription.
Here are some key takeaways:
Strained agencies
North Carolina has seen tremendous population growth in the last decade, rising from more than 9.8 million residents in July 2013 to nearly 10.7 million in July 2022.
In July 2013, North Carolina had 66,438 state agency workers. By July 2022, that number fell to 55,936 — a decline of 15.8%. Over the same period of time, North Carolina’s population grew by 8.7%.
But as more responsibilities get placed on government workers to accommodate the growing state, many agencies are a shadow of their former selves. According to data provided by the Office of State Human Resources, 19 of 31 North Carolina agencies now have fewer workers than they did a decade ago.
By November 2022, five agencies had vacancy rates in excess of 20%, meaning at least one in five positions were unfilled. The heavily understaffed agencies include the Department of Commerce (29.6% vacancy rate), Department of Adult Correction (28.5%), Department of Health and Human Services (25.7%), Department of Transportation (21.8%) and Department of Public Safety (20.3%).
Lots of job openings
At the start of the current fiscal year, North Carolina had 16,152 vacancies, nearly twice as many unfilled positions as a decade ago.
Two-thirds of the openings came from the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Health and Human Services. Of the more than 16,000 open positions, 40.5% were from DPS and 27.1% from DHHS. The Department of Transportation had the third most openings, followed by the Department of Commerce and Department of Environmental Quality.
Vacancy rates have nearly doubled in the past decade, rising from 11.5% in July 2013 to 22.4% in July 2022. The rise was sharpest during the Covid-19 pandemic. In Fiscal Year 2020, 13.4% of available state government positions were unfilled. The vacancy rate increased by 9 percentage points two years later.
DATA TRANSPARENCY: If you would like to access the data from the North Carolina Office of State Human Resources that informed this piece, please click here.