Tampa Government Jobs Eliminated
More Tampa government jobs will soon be eliminated.
After recently notifying 13 fiscal and accounting managers that they would be laid off in 90 days, the City of Tampa is now planning to cut an additional 30 employees in the budget office. Tampa Bay Online is reporting that all laid-off employees will be able to reapply for new positions once the city reorganizes its financial and budget officer operations.
The first round of employees to be laid off will be eligible to apply for five new management positions, while the second round of employees laid off will be able to apply for new budget office positions. It may be tough competition, however, as all of the new positions also will be open to the general public.
The major goal of the layoffs is to cut costs and consolidate financial operations in several city departments, as several employees in different departments were performing the same financial analysis. Once the reorganization is complete, Tampa will have 10 to 15 less finance positions and save about $1 million each year.
Currently, payroll and benefits make up the biggest percentage of Tampa's general fund at about $212 million. The city has been working during the past two years to reduce its workforce by 10 percent, or more than 500 jobs, through layoffs and eliminating vacant positions.
Tampa was previously apprehensive to implement any pay cuts or furloughs for city workers. This year, however, the city imposed a freeze on cost-of-living and merit raises for police officers, firefighters and general employees.
The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area's government industry employed 152,100 workers during December 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 152,800 workers during November and a 2.9 percent decrease from December 2008.