MTA reorganization report calls for agency to eliminate up to 2,700 jobs

[WestFarms36]

MTA reorganization report calls for agency to eliminate up to 2,700 jobs

MTA officials said they first would look to achieve the job reductions by not filling vacant positions, and through attrition. Photo Credit: Corey Sipkin

By Alfonso A. Castilloalfonso.castillo@newsday.com  @alfonsoreportsUpdated July 17, 2019 4:34 PM

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The MTA’s plan to reorganize its agencies, including the Long Island Rail Road, could require the elimination of up to 2,700 jobs — including through layoffs, if necessary, according to a report released Wednesday.

The full “MTA Transformation Plan,” which was commissioned by the agency and developed by management consulting firm AlixPartners, promises an “elimination of redundancies, reduction of layers, and streamlining of processes” that would result in annual savings of between $370 million and $530 million, according to the report.

AlexPartners is a Manhattan-based management consultant firm the MTA hired in April and paid $3.75 million to come up with two reports. 

Getting to the savings “could result in a potential reduction of roughly 1,900-2,700” of the MTA’s 74,000 employees, according to the report. MTA officials said they first would look to achieve the job reductions by not filling vacant positions, and through attrition.

A significant round of layoffs would be the first since 2010, when in the face of a nearly $1 billion budget deficit, the agency laid off about 1,000 workers, including about 150 at the LIRR.

The MTA Board will vote on the reorganization plan next Wednesday.

[dman1455]

So this is all managerial positions? Or civil service too?

[WestFarms36]

8 minutes ago, dman1455 said:

So this is all managerial positions? Or civil service too?

According to what has been stated in this article, seems like MTA HQ is the place being swept.

[dman1455]

9 minutes ago, WestFarms36 said:

According to what has been stated in this article, seems like MTA HQ is the place being swept.

Good, that needs to happen.

[GojiMet86]

A lot of those management jobs aren't very essential. It would be a problem if they were looking to cut down on actual essential jobs (T/O, B/O, etc).

Can't really provide transportation without transporters.

[CrazyD]

Will these layoffs apply to the railroads in terms of non essential jobs anyone think? 

[RR503]

Gonna disagree with those saying management is where there is space for cuts. Management is a shell of what it once was; there are groups that have, because of the hiring freeze, lost over half of their staff. It's getting to the point where we will see real challenges. They need an infusion of new people and a reorganized structure that allows for less siloed thinking and more action, not cuts (except to the consultant payroll). 

It's worth keeping in mind when reading this report that the big drivers of MTA costs are debt service, healthcare, and increasing payroll costs (both in headcount and in O/T). The first of those is essentially the long term manifestation of capital budget funding deficits and cost escalations, but the rest of them are largely consequences of expanding ranks of middle/lower hierarchy jobs without serious productivity improvements. Certainly worth stressing that a good bit of those costs are self-inflicted MTA initiatives (SAP, deck chair shifting in ops support, etc), but the general issue is that the workforce isn't, in some key areas like maintenance, all that productive even by US standards. But of course the report isn't gonna talk about that. 

Edited July 17, 2019 by RR503

[QM1to6Ave]

4 hours ago, RR503 said:

Gonna disagree with those saying management is where there is space for cuts. Management is a shell of what it once was; there are groups that have, because of the hiring freeze, lost over half of their staff. It's getting to the point where we will see real challenges. They need an infusion of new people and a reorganized structure that allows for less siloed thinking and more action, not cuts (except to the consultant payroll). 

It's worth keeping in mind when reading this report that the big drivers of MTA costs are debt service, healthcare, and increasing payroll costs (both in headcount and in O/T). The first of those is essentially the long term manifestation of capital budget funding deficits and cost escalations, but the rest of them are largely consequences of expanding ranks of middle/lower hierarchy jobs without serious productivity improvements. Certainly worth stressing that a good bit of those costs are self-inflicted MTA initiatives (SAP, deck chair shifting in ops support, etc), but the general issue is that the workforce isn't, in some key areas like maintenance, all that productive even by US standards. But of course the report isn't gonna talk about that. 

I'm shocked, just SHOCKED, to hear that the maintenance workers purposely drag their a**es so they have lower expectations for productivity LOL. This is the kind of attitude that then gets stereotyped to all government workers, and it is hard to blame people for doing so. 

[Mtatransit]

I agree, I think MTA needs to start talking to the unions regarding work rule changes and productivity enhancements. Esp on the LIRR

Middle Management and non union workers has already been cut to the bones at this point. They were done so because it was the path of least resistance when it came to cuts. I am not surprised at this almost useless report recommended that (and the other common sense recommendations)

The unions need to start having better working relations with management and vice versa. It shouldn’t be us vs them.