The State Personnel Office on Tuesday briefed the Senate Finance Committee on a multi‑year job architecture redesign produced with Deloitte that aims to consolidate classifications, standardize job families and create wider, more flexible pay bands.

The redesign work, presented by Joseph Simon, analyst for the State Personnel Office, and Deloitte client executive Selena Bussey, grew out of a 2023 study that recommended a review of the state’s job classification framework so “a manager in one classification means relatively the same thing as a manager in the other,” Simon said. Deloitte delivered a draft catalog listing about 680 classifications, down from more than 800 in the current system.

“The project’s purpose is to create a more rational system for state classification,” Simon said. Bussey said the work focuses on transparency and long‑term career paths: “it really is what is going to be best for New Mexico, and its classified system of employees.”

Officials said the project will produce a uniform leveling guide (entry, intermediate, senior) and a job glossary so titles use consistent language across agencies. Director Dylan Lang of the State Personnel Office told the committee validation sessions will begin in April to test the draft catalog in agencies and regional offices and to tailor the design to New Mexico’s needs.

Committee members and other legislators raised questions about pay competitiveness and implementation. Lang and project staff said a related objective is to move from the current 112 pay grades to roughly 20–25 bands to allow wider ranges within each band; one speaker described pay bands as “so wide, some 70%,” meaning agencies would have broader discretion to place employees within a band but remain constrained by agency budgets.

Senators also asked how the plan would help recruit federal workers leaving federal service; Lang said the architecture and a consolidated salary structure should make the state “more nimble” in hiring, although he cautioned the state will still be limited by agency budget capacity. Deloitte and SPO staff said the project includes IT work with the Department of Finance and Administration’s SHARE team to convert titles and pay information once the design is finalized.

Committee members urged careful implementation and attention to agency budgets and human resources operations; several senators described similar county‑level efforts and urged steady follow‑through. The SPO said staff will return with implementation details and coordinate with DFA and the Legislative Finance Committee as validation sessions proceed.

Looking ahead, staff said the project’s next steps are agency validation sessions in April and continued coordination with DFA for any needed IT conversions before the design’s deployment in the next fiscal year.