Hiring Freeze Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Major Staffing Changes, Hiring Freeze Next Steps For DHHR Restructuring

A press release notes that DHHR is centralizing the reporting structures of the staff who work in the job functions of Finance, Management Information Services, Human Resources Management and Purchasing.

Department of Health and Human Resources Secretary Bill Crouch announced Wednesday morning additional changes as a result of the organizationalstudy of DHHR by the McChrystal Group. The announcement follows notices this week promoting two DHHR upper level staffers to Deputy Secretary positions.

Finance staff in each bureau and office will report to Tara Buckner, DHHR’s Chief Financial Officer. Technology staff will report to Shaun Charles, DHHR’s chief information officer. Purchasing staff will report to Warren Keefer, director of the Office of Administration. All human resources staff will report to Angie Ferris, DHHR’s director of the Office of Human Resources Management.

DHHR has also instituted a temporary hiring freeze. Positions of critical need will still be filled, but requests to hire must be approved by the respective Deputy Secretary and sent to the Office of Human Resources Management for review and final approval by the Secretary. Crouch said positions will still be filled like in Child and Adult Protective Services.

“That does not include CPS and APS workers and others in those areas,” Crouch said. “We have job fairs scheduled and our state facilities will not be impacted by this freeze.”

Crouch said the latest changes will help break down the department “Silos” that the study said has impeded communication and positive outcomes.

“DHHR has important work to do to help the residents of West Virginia,” Crouch said in the release. “We strongly believe that these organizational changes are steps in the right direction, and we will continue to make wise decisions going forward. By getting the right people in the right places, we continue the critically important work of the Department to meet the needs of both the people and the State of West Virginia.”

For more information on DHHR’s organizational changes, visithttps://dhhr.wv.gov/Pages/DHHR-Moving-Forward.aspx.

Government Jobs Drop Two Percent Since Tomblin Hiring Freeze

State government jobs have dropped by more than 2 percent since Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin imposed a hiring freeze in 2013.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that the number full-time positions has dropped by 917 since West Virginia’s freeze went into effect.

Tomblin spokeswoman Jessica Tice says the goal is to limit the growth in state employment while maintaining essential services of the state. She says that not all vacant jobs are left unfilled, but that a careful review is made to decide whether replacements are needed.

The biggest drop has occurred in the Department of Health, where the equivalent of about 208 full time jobs have been eliminated. Next is the Higher Education Policy Commission, with 204 fewer employees.

W.Va. Hiring Freeze 'Indefinite' According to Revenue Secretary

Although the state was able to finish the fiscal year in the black, a member of Governor Tomblin’s cabinet say a hiring freeze will continue indefinitely.

Revenue Secretary Bob Kiss made the statement on a conference call with reporters Wednesday, referring to a freeze Tomblin implemented in January. The action saved the state an estimated $33 million in the second half of the fiscal year.

Kiss said the freeze combined with a one-time appropriation from the legislature is what kept West Virginia from finishing the year in the red.

The allocation of $70 million in state general revenue funds was taken from the Tax Reduction and Federal Funds Income Compliance, or TRAFFIC, account. Tomblin staffers equate it to a legislative savings account.

As of now, Kiss said the state is starting the 2015 budget cycle with a $3 million general revenue surplus. He estimated that could grow by as much as $10 million by the end of the month from funds state agencies didn’t spend before the end of the fiscal year.

Excess lottery revenues will also be calculated at the end of July. Those additional dollars, Kiss said, could mean the state is starting the new budget year with a total surplus in the $40 million range.

He warned, however, projections show this year will be as fiscally tight as the previous two, if not worse.