Civil service presents 2024 annual report: turnover rises, IT class study completed

Chief Examiner Kelsey Pearson presented the Spokane Civil Service Commission with the agency's 2024 annual report on April 15, summarizing classification work, turnover and recruitment efforts.

Pearson said civil service created 23 new classifications in 2024 — largely the IT reclassification that moved staff into a new series — and completed the IT class study begun in previous years. "We have the entire IT staff moved into those new classifications," Pearson said.

The report showed an 8.2% turnover rate in 2024, continuing a multi-year upward trend. Pearson said the city experienced an unusually high number of retirements — 80 employees accepted a retirement incentive during a period of budget deficit — and that civil service issued potential layoff notifications to 31 classified employees; during budget reconciliation only 11 formal layoff notices were issued, of which four employees were ultimately laid off and seven transferred in lieu of layoff.

Recruiting activity remained substantial despite hiring slowdowns: applications rose 6.8% year over year and recruitments fell slightly from 178 in 2023 to 172 in 2024. Civil service also expanded outreach with 11 job fairs, a refreshed recruitment video and an internal "merit tour" that visited eight departments to explain rules and processes.

Commissioners asked about applicant diversity; Pearson said civil service can provide breakdowns from the applicant pool on request and will supply detailed diversity figures when available.

Pearson said the color annual report will be posted on the city website for public review.