City of Edmonton could cut up to 185 management jobs, council decides
The City of Edmonton will consider cutting up to 185 management and supervisory positions in the next year at council's request Friday.
During an audit committee meeting, council agreed that the city should explore two options: reduce the equivalent of 92 full-time supervisory positions for an estimated savings of $13 million or eliminate 184 positions to save an estimated $26 million.
Council asked administration to include the two scenarios in its fall budget update in November.
The motion follows a recommendation by city auditor David Wiun, outlined in a report released last week.
Wiun revealed that the city had added about 20 per cent more supervisory positions in the past three years —the equivalent of 232 management positions — spending $63 million more than in 2017.
"I think there is a definite need for change based on where the economic climate is right now," Wiun told council.
Interim city manager Adam Laughlin said administration will assess all areas with the goal of a zero per cent tax increase for 2021.
"We do need to have a priorities discussion about the services and service levels that the city of Edmonton offers," Laughlin said during a media availability.
Wiun's report, "City Performance Audit: Management Staffing Analysis," showed In 2020 there were 1,840 supervisory positions with an average salary of $143,400.
The city employs the equivalent of 11,372 full-time positions, referred to as FTEs.
Wiun also consulted unions during his audit.
David Wilson, a labour relations officer with Civic Service Union Local 52, spoke during Friday's meeting and said Edmonton has too many layers of management compared to regular staff growth.
"In some cases, we've seen directors with two managers, who each have two supervisors, who each have two team leads — all in management," he said. Wilson suggested the city look to others like Ottawa, Winnipeg, Halifax on the number of non-union and union management.
"We believe the city could save millions per year."
Mayor Don Iveson said that the decision to cut jobs comes with "friction and pain and loss and grief, so we're going to have to work through that, all of us."
Wiun also noted the cuts would be a challenge.
"You're dealing with people so dealing with people, these are not easy decisions," Wiun said.
New budgets
Nearly every department added positions but the number varied depending on capital projects approved in the 2018-2022 budget.
Council approved new budgets in 88 areas between 2017 and 2020.
Fleet and facility services
Transit security
Development services
Community and recreation facilities
Fire rescue services operating
Edmonton transit Heritage Valley park-and-ride
Parks and roads services
Rob Smyth, deputy manager of citizen services, said his department which includes fire rescue services, added 67 supervisory positions, 56 of which are unionized positions.
A new fire hall at Pilot Sound, reopening Station 21 in Rossdale and adding a tanker truck in annexed areas of south Edmonton all contributed to the increase in staff, Smyth said.
This included 15 fire captains and two station captains.
"All of which are critical front-line supervisory positions," Smyth said.
Several areas in recreation added positions with the opening of Borden Pool, addition of infrastructure in the river valley such as six new boat launches and the opening the nature's wild backyard at Edmonton Valley Zoo, he noted.
Wiun said the pandemic has exacerbated the economic reality for Edmonton and Alberta, already facing tough economic conditions.
He noted that it's a good time for the city to take a deeper look at its structure, department by department.
"If there was ever an opportunity to do that analysis looking deep into the business units, now would be the time," Wiun said.
Job classification
Kim Armstrong, deputy manager of employee services dept., said the city is reassessing its workforce, structures and planning.
The city has embarked on a new "modernized" job classification system. The current structure has hundreds of different job profiles, Armstrong said.
She said the revamp is "an enormous undertaking to determine responsibilities within a standardized scale based on tasks, pay levels and duties associated with a specific job."
The job classification revamp will involve renegotiating contracts with unions, Armstrong said.
Armstrong said they plan to implement the new structure by 2022 but acknowledged there's a desire to speed up the work.
