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Council hears 2023–24 workforce report; unions warn vacancies threaten services
Summary
City HR presented the 2023–24 workforce report showing vacancy and turnover improvements, while unions (AFSCME Local 127, Firefighters Local 145, Teamsters Local 911) briefed the council on persistent staffing gaps and recruitment pipelines for sanitation, fire paramedics and lifeguards.
City Human Resources presented the 2023–24 workforce report on May 13, highlighting improved employee sentiment and lower vacancy rates after multi-year efforts to rebuild the municipal workforce.
HR staff reported the city workforce is just over 13,000 employees and cited a daily vacancy rate that fell to about 10.59% as of Dec. 31, 2024, after targeted recruitment and retention work. Staff also reported an average monthly turnover rate of 1.73% across the period covered and said employee satisfaction measures — including ‘‘likelihood to recommend’’ — have climbed into positive territory since 2021. HR identified three priority areas for continued focus: ensuring employees have resources to do their jobs, strengthening internal career pathways and maintaining progress during an impending fiscal squeeze.
Union leaders briefed the council after the staff report. AFSCME Local 127 urged continued investments for essential operations, saying some classifications remain deeply underpaid and historically understaffed. San Diego City Firefighters Local 145 said the department remains short about 61 firefighter-paramedics and described investments the union and department seek to stabilize emergency response, including local paramedic training and retention measures. Teamsters Local 911 described lifeguard recruiting challenges — including high physical standards and training barriers — and urged continued salary adjustments and funding for advanced academies.
Councilmembers praised the improvement in metrics but cautioned that the city faces a crossroads ahead of the budget revision. Members repeatedly warned that savings that undercut workforce gains could increase long-term costs and impair service delivery. Staff and union representatives highlighted pilot training programs to upskill current workers — for example, an equipment-operator pilot in Transportation — and described partnerships with San Diego Workforce Partnership and Cal-JAC for EMT and paramedic pipelines.
Council members said they will weigh workforce priorities carefully in upcoming budget revisions and encouraged staff and unions to continue collaborative planning. No binding action was required; Item 330 was informational.
