How to strengthen cities’ public sector workforce? Begin with better, timelier data.
With the federal government expected to shrink in size and scope, cities and states may soon face even more pressure to deliver essential services, from housing and public safety to food assistance. But as responsibilities grow, many cities — including New York — are facing a staffing crisis that threatens their ability to meet these demands. The stakes are high: Without the people to get the job done, communities suffer.
It sounds simple, but it’s not. For years, New York City has struggled with a stubborn workforce problem: Outdated and fragmented data have left agencies unable to quickly identify hiring and retention challenges and take action accordingly. The city’s legally mandated workforce report, covering demographics and staffing trends, often arrives years late — rendering it obsolete the moment it’s published. Meanwhile, agencies face months-long — and sometimes years-long — delays waiting for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve new hires, in addition to each administration enacting its own layers of approval from City Hall and elsewhere. This bureaucratic bottleneck discourages top talent, as highlighted in recent City Council hearings, where Councilman Lincoln Restler cited constituents who had abandoned city job offers after waiting six or nine months for a start date.
These challenges aren’t just frustrating — they’re costly. When New Yorkers don’t have the full-time employees the government needs, overtime spending can soar, which is exactly what happened in New York City. Overtime costs here hit nearly $2 billion by March 2024, a 63% increase from three years prior. Uniformed agencies like police and fire drive most of this spending, but other departments are also seeing sharp increases. Overreliance on OT is a symptom of deeper staffing issues and places an undue burden on taxpayers while straining workers.
The 5BORO Institute’s report on city staffing challenges detailed how the loss of nearly 20,000 public sector employees in recent years impeded the delivery and quality of services to New Yorkers and delayed the fulfillment of legal mandates and key commitments.
Enter the city Comptroller’s Agency Staffing Dashboard, which provides real-time, publicly available data on staffing levels across 80 city agencies. Released in 2024, this tool represents a sea change in how governments can identify, address and prevent workforce shortages. A new case study from Work for America and the 5BORO Institute explores how the Dashboard can and should be a model for cities nationwide.
The Dashboard shouldn’t be revolutionary — government and the public should know how well and how poorly various agencies are staffed — but it is. By integrating payroll data with authorized headcount figures, it allows city leaders to see exactly where vacancies exist and how staffing levels have changed over time. Updated monthly and built with user-friendly tools like Microsoft Power BI, the Dashboard empowers agencies to make data-driven decisions that address critical staffing gaps before they disrupt essential services. The NYC Dashboard also highlights the value of using preliminary data to identify trends. Rather than waiting months for fully validated figures, New York’s approach allows agencies to act on highly accurate early insights, saving valuable time.
The ability to visualize staffing trends in near-real time has profound implications. For the first time, City Hall can efficiently address issues like attrition, plan for hiring needs and evaluate the impact of workforce changes on service delivery. For example, the city Comptroller’s Office identified that high attrition rates at the Department of Housing Preservation and Development were delaying affordable housing production. This insight led to targeted recommendations for staff development and retention strategies. In the midst of a housing and affordability crisis in our city, staffing challenges should not be slowing us down.
Cities across the country are navigating similar workforce shortages exacerbated by the Great Resignation and pandemic-era disruptions. What makes New York City’s new dashboard so powerful is its replicability. While not every city can build a tool of this scale, the principles behind it — leveraging existing data, prioritizing usability and focusing on actionable insights — are universally applicable. For example, even resource-constrained cities can begin by analyzing underutilized payroll and HR data to track vacancies and turnover.
In the midst of a housing and affordability crisis in our city, staffing challenges should not be slowing us down.
While the Dashboard is an important step forward, it’s not a panacea. Vacancy rates alone don’t tell the full story of workforce health. For instance, this tool doesn’t yet track churn — how many people leave and join other agencies — or include data on part-time and contracted workers. Expanding its scope to include these metrics would provide a fuller picture of the city’s workforce dynamics.
Another critical next step is linking staffing data to service delivery outcomes. Imagine a tool that not only shows vacancies but also correlates them with delays in affordable housing production or longer wait times for 911 responses. This kind of insight could revolutionize workforce planning by showing exactly where staffing gaps are hurting communities. Today, the public relies on the twice-yearly Mayor’s Management Report to spot problems, as delays or bottlenecks in service delivery stats are often linked to staffing shortages.
Even with timely data to identify key vacancies, there are bureaucratic hurdles that stymie would-be public sector workers from joining city government.
Over 80% of city jobs require passing a civil service exam. Interested applicants must apply to take exams, pay an application fee, take the exam, and wait nine to 12 months to be eligible to apply to jobs requiring that exam. The City’s jobs portal has also been challenging to navigate, but a recent overhaul appears to have made it more user-friendly for applicants, which is a positive development.
At a time when the federal government is stepping back and cities are being asked to do more, local capacity has never been more critical. The stakes are too high to rely on outdated systems and bureaucratic inertia. By adopting tools like the Dashboard, cities can address staffing crises head-on, reduce overtime costs, and ensure that the public services communities depend on remain reliable and accessible.
New York City has taken an important first step. Let’s build on it — because if we get this right, the ripple effects will benefit not just New Yorkers, but communities nationwide.