Sedgwick County is looking to boost its compensation plan to help attract new hires and keep current county employees.
Sedgwick County employs nearly 3000 people, but the workforce has been dwindling for the past six years. The county lost 14 percent of workers in the last seven months alone.
The county manager blames job stress, increased workloads and below-market pay for the turnover. The county is attacking the pay issue in the proposed 2017 budget.
County Chief Financial Officer Chris Chronis says nearly $3 million would be used for targeted pay grade adjustments, and nearly $4 million would go toward bonuses.
"We also have recommended a 2.5 percent pay pool that is embedded within all the various operating department budgets that will be used to provide pay for performance pay increases to employees," he says.
A recent study showed that, on average, Sedgwick County employees were making 7 percent below the market value.
The county is also having a hard time filling vacancies in key jobs such as detention deputies.
Chronis says the pay issue won’t be solved with just the proposed 2017 budget. He expects the county will need to provide similar funding in 2018 in order to fully implement the recommended pay grade adjustments and starting pay levels.
There are 2,954 people who currently work for Sedgwick County. The proposed 2017 budget adds 28 full-time positions, but eliminates 21 positions, so the net change in the workforce is seven jobs.
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