Twenty-four state layoffs were rescinded over the last week to account for agencies that chose to leave vacant the positions of some recently-retired workers, placing the layoff total at 2,984 on Wednesday, the Office of Policy and Management said.
That total does not include any layoffs from the state’s universities and only five from the Department of Higher Education, OPM Secretary Ben Barnes said in a statement. Layoffs in those areas along with those in the Judicial Branch, are up to the leaders of the particular agencies, he said.
“Once all layoff notices have been issued – including those from the higher education system and the judicial, legislative and executive branches, we expect the total number of notices and retirements to be in the range of 6,000,” he said.
The state is now working through the complicated and time-consuming employee bumping rights process, he said.
“In about two-and-a-half weeks, a large number of our fellow state workers will leave state service, and it continues to be the administration’s hope that the unions will ratify the agreement and avoid the layoffs and painful spending cuts outlined in the last few weeks,” Barnes said. “If that does not happen, people are beginning to get a clearer picture of the way in which those layoffs and cuts will impact our state and we will have to adjust accordingly.”
-Click here to see the breakdown by agency
