Boston people-operations officials outline FY26 hiring, training and pay pilots; no new formal policy votes

Boston officials presented the People Operations cabinet’s FY26 budget and described a series of administrative changes and pilot programs intended to improve hiring, training and pay equity for city employees.

Chief People and Administrative Officer Alex Lawrence told the Boston City Council Committee on Ways and Means on May 13 that the cabinet has centralized multiple human-capital and administrative functions under one umbrella and is pursuing technology, training and pay-policy changes to reduce vacancy-driven service gaps.

The presentation said the cabinet reduced steps in the hiring process and reported “18 different learning opportunities and about 700 participants” in its organizational-development training over the past year. Brenda Hernandez, executive director of People and Culture, described a newly established centralized organizational-development team and a “new city supervisor orientation” being scaled to reach existing and newly promoted managers.

Officials said the FY26 budget includes funding for a new applicant tracking system (to replace the current…