Human resources seeks additional staff as city faces near‑term retirements

The city’s human resources director described staffing constraints and an organizational need for immediate additional HR capacity.

Amy Hazelett (HR Director) told council she is presently a one‑person HR office supporting roughly 380 to 400 full‑time and seasonal employees and recommended adding one full‑time HR staffer to bring staff closer to industry norms (roughly 1.7 HR staff per 100 employees). She said the largest personnel cost changes in HR are driven by benefits and the administration is budgeting on the high side to ensure competitive offers for prospective employees.

Hazelett outlined core functions the new position would handle: personnel recordkeeping, onboarding and benefits administration, first‑level policy drafting and training schedules. She emphasized that the HR office seeks to offer careers, not temporary positions, and noted an anticipated personnel transition: “In the next 5 years, about 40% of our workforce is eligible for retirement,” she said, while clarifying that eligibility does not mean all will retire.

Council members asked about timing and space; Hazelett said hiring depends on the budget being approved and space being allocated. Administration said they support a HR generalist hire to reduce risk and workload in a high‑complexity HR environment.

The next step is formal inclusion of the position in the adopted budget and coordination on office space and recruitment logistics.