Step 1 to fix Hoboken's budget: layoffs

January 24, 2009 Jersey Journal
 

In a move to streamline Hoboken's budget, the city announced yesterday that seven provisional municipal employees have been laid off.

The layoffs mark the first stage of a workforce reduction in the city under the control of state monitor Judy Tripodi. The city is expected to reduce its workforce by 65 employees, or 10 percent of all full-time municipal workers, throughout this year.

City officials would not divulge who was laid off. Tripodi said the layoffs affected workers in various departments and amounted to less than 1 percent of the entire city payroll.

Provisional employees are not unionized and are not part of the civil service system. Most provisional employees are new hires who are not in the city's pension plan. They are usually the first to go when it comes to municipal payroll cuts.

"This was not based on work performance, rather a move to reach a scale of economy as Hoboken seeks to reduce its budget," said Mayor Dave Roberts in a statement.

Over the past year, 43 Hoboken city employees retired, bringing the total to 110 retirees during the past five years.