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Request a DemoThe Great Resignation in Georgia’s State Government
- A highest-ever 23% turnover rate hit Georgia’s state government hard over the past year.
- Experts say the spike in quits has likely worsened prison violence and homelessness.
- State workers can expect pay raises later this year – but will it really help cut down turnover?
Georgia’s state government notched its highest-ever annual staff turnover rate at 23% from mid-2020 to mid-2021, according to state data – higher than many other state governments such as Louisiana, Alabama and Arizona.
Low salaries and stiff competition from the private sector have siphoned off employees at key agencies caring for foster kids, helping mental-health patients and fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Chick-fil-a can pay significantly more than we can,” said state Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey, who runs Georgia’s infectious-disease programs and COVID-19 response.
In this story, State Affairs breaks down the numbers behind the Great Resignation in Georgia’s state government and what it means for getting residents their taxpayer-funded services.
Many of Georgia's top state agencies serving millions of people saw large turnover in the 2021 fiscal year. (Credit: Brittney Phan for State Affairs)
Staff turnover has bled into every corner of Georgia’s government. The top 20 state agencies providing critical services saw one-fourth of their workforce leave, totaling nearly 10,000 state employees. That’s almost the same number of U.S. workers employed by Coca-Cola.
“It is across the board in every sector of state government that we see,” Georgia House Appropriations Chairman Terry England (R-Auburn), who leads drafting the state’s $27 billion budget, told State Affairs. “Health care, law enforcement, corrections, environmental protection: all of those agencies are having those issues right now.”
In the 2021 fiscal year, turnover climbed higher than 35% at several key agencies in charge of prisons, juvenile detention centers, mental-health services, issuing driver’s licenses and the Georgia National Guard, state records show.
State lawmakers divvy up Georgia's $27 billion for agencies each year at the Capitol building in Atlanta. (Credit: Beau Evans for State Affairs)
The revolving door has turned fastest at Georgia agencies with some of the toughest, most hands-on jobs – like prison guards.
In mid-2018, there were roughly 6,200 correctional officers and higher-ranked sergeants and lieutenants working in Georgia prisons, state employment records show. Less than 40% were still on the payroll by June 2021.
The total number of state-funded guards also fell over that time:
- 2018 officers/higher ranks: 6,205
- 2021 officers/higher ranks: 4,091
Meanwhile, Georgia’s prison population hasn’t fallen nearly as much, leading many inmate advocates to pin blame for rising suicides and violence partly on guard shortages.
“Without the proper staff, that is when it leads to violence,” said retired Georgia Warden Jose Morales, speaking with WCEG Talk Radio. “There’s no one to manage all of the inmates in every dormitory.”
Georgia's prison system has one of the highest turnover rates for employees in the state government. (Credit: Georgia Department of Corrections)
High turnover isn’t just a headache for agencies’ human resources and hiring managers. Training new staff who quit comes with a big price.
Nearly $3 million in Georgia taxpayer dollars went down the drain last year to train correctional officers at juvenile detention centers who promptly quit, according to the state Department of Juvenile Justice. The turnover rate for juvenile correctional officers was 90% last fiscal year. It cost roughly $5,300 to train each of them.
“There’s no organization on the planet for which that’s sustainable,” said state Rep. Scott Holcomb (D-Atlanta). “That turnover rate, we have to get it way, way, way down.”
Turnover also shot up for doctors and nurses working in Georgia’s five psychiatric hospitals, which serve patients facing mental-health crises. Since January 2020, more than 1,000 workers – 28% total – have left local psychiatric hospitals, forcing staff to reduce patient admissions. The shortage has put many people in a serious bind, said Judy Fitzgerald, commissioner of the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.
“When people in a psychiatric crisis can’t be served in the deepest end of our system – the hospitals – they land in emergency departments and jails and places in communities where they’re not going to get the treatment they need,” Fitzgerald recently told state lawmakers.
Thousands of state employees work in the James H. "Sloppy" Floyd Building across from the Capitol building in Atlanta. (Credit: Beau Evans for State Affairs)
Georgia’s government may not have even hit rock bottom yet. One-fourth of all state employees will be eligible for retirement within three years, prompting concerns over more staff losses and whether enough younger employees will stick around to replace retirees.
Among all state workers, those who quit the fastest last fiscal year were the younger generations of Millennials and Gen Zers, state data shows:
- FY2021 Millennial turnover: 25.7%
- FY2021 Gen Z turnover: 76.4%
A retirement tsunami looms ahead for state governments across the U.S., said Gerald Young, the senior research analyst for the nonprofit MissionSquare Research Institute, formerly called the Center for State and Local Government Excellence.
Retirements are ticking up after many career state workers delayed retiring to pitch in during the COVID-19 pandemic, Young said. The nonprofit’s recent workforce study found hundreds of U.S. state and local government human-resource officials expect a wave of retirements to hit over the next few years.
“It’s not going to be an overnight return to the way things used to be,” Young told State Affairs. “It’s going to take several years of rebuilding.”
This graph from the MissionSquare Research Institute highlights responses from state and local government officials across the U.S. who have seen fewer employees delay retiring and more speeding up retirement over the past decade. (Credit: MissionSquare Research Institute)
State governments can potentially stem the turnover tide by offering employees higher salaries and bonuses, said Rivka Liss-Levinson, the nonprofit’s senior research manager. Georgia plans to do just that with a $5,000 raise for most of the state’s roughly 68,000 government employees, potentially starting this summer.
Agency heads and supporters see the pay bump as a shot in the arm for state workers who struggled through the pandemic, particularly those with low starting salaries. Rank-and-file prison guards, for example, currently make between $30,000 and $35,000 a year on average, state records show. Juvenile-detention officers earn even less, often as low as $28,000 a year.
But better pay can’t be the only solution to curbing turnover, said Liss-Levinson. Government employees also want more skills training and leadership development opportunities – and to really feel their work is appreciated by their bosses and the public.
Many Georgia officials agree. Juvenile Justice Commissioner Tyrone Oliver, who heads Georgia’s juvenile detention system, recently said his agency – like many others in Georgia – needs more focus on promoting the public-service aspects of their jobs and not just the dollars that new hires can expect to pocket.
“We still have to do a better job on the culture,” Oliver said. “You can pay somebody $5,000 a day, and if the job is difficult, they’re going to leave.”
What else do you want to know about the challenges and job turnover for Georgia’s state workers? Share your thoughts/tips by emailing: [email protected].
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‘It is nothing short of insane:’ Bill to criminalize squatting signed by governor
ATLANTA — Today Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation criminalizing squatting, the illegal practice of entering and residing on someone else’s property without their consent. The Georgia Squatter Reform Act makes squatting a misdemeanor criminal offense, punishable by up to a year in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both. It also speeds up the timeline to …
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ATLANTA — When Cpl. Anthony Munoz straps on his bullet-proof vest each day and pulls out of the Department of Public Safety headquarters in Atlanta, Munoz never knows how his shift will unfold. What is for certain is that the traffic — of cars, criminals and contraband — is constant. And what is also true …
In hot water with your HOA? A new law buys you time to fix the problem
The Gist
Georgia homeowners living in communities governed by homeowners’ associations now get time to fix a covenant violation before the HOA can take legal action, thanks to legislation signed into law Monday.
Gov. Brian Kemp signed House Bill 220 at the Capitol, continuing his flurry of bill-signings across the state. To date, Kemp has signed about three dozen bills since sine die, which marked the end of the 2024 legislative session, his spokesman Garrison Douglas told State Affairs. Sine die ended in the early hours of March 29. The governor has until May 7 to sign, veto or take no action on a bill. If he takes no action, the bill automatically becomes law.
What’s Happening
HB 220 requires community-governed associations to notify in writing a home or condo owner of a covenant breach — such as painting their house a color not approved by the association, and give them time to fix it before going to court or taking some other legal action.
Rep. Rob Leverett, R-Elberton, sponsored the bill which included parts of an HOA bill promoted by Sen. Donzella James, D-Atlanta. James had been trying for two years to get some HOA-related legislation passed.
While the HOA portion of HB 220 does not go as far as James’ proposed single legislation, it’s a start, she and others say.
Why It Matters
An overwhelming majority of new subdivisions being built in Georgia now will have HOAs, experts told State Affairs. In fact, new homes that are part of a homeowner association are growing fastest in the southern and western part of the United States. An estimated 2.2 million, roughly 22%, Georgia residents live in a building or home overseen by anHOA or some other type of community association, according to the Community Association Institute.
Lawmakers such as James have heard complaints in which HOAs have terrorized homeowners and threatened to take their property, all while homeowners have had little to no legal options. In some cases, homeowners have lost their homes after falling behind on HOAs fees, even if they never missed a mortgage payment.
What’s Next?
While HB 220 is now law, Senate Resolution 37 has yet to be appointed. The resolution, sponsored by James, creates the Senate Property Owners’ Associations, Homeowners’ Associations, and Condominium Associations Study Committee. Committee members will be appointed by the President of the Senate, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
Lawmakers appointed to the committee will delve further into HOA issues before presenting recommendations to the Legislature when it convenes in January.
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All you need to know heading into the May 21 primary
Gist
Georgia’s primary is less than a month away and there’s a lot to unpack.
The May 21 primary will be the first time some Georgians will be voting in new districts for state and congressional candidates. They’ll also be voting in local races for sheriff, judges, school board or county commission members. Primary winners who have challengers will go on to compete in the Nov. 5 general election. Georgia is an open primary state, meaning voters can choose the party ballot they wish to vote for.
This year, Georgians who want to vote absentee in the primary could face possible challenges due to mail delivery delays.
What’s Happening
North Georgia and metro Atlanta are seeing significant mail delivery delays. The holdup, according to media reports, appears to be at the United States Postal Services’ new Regional Processing and Distribution Center in Palmetto. The problem has led to dangerous situations in which people are not getting critical medication.
Georgia’s U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff recently grilled USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on the delays. Ossoff told DeJoy during an April 16 hearing that on-time delivery rates were abysmal. He said 66% of outbound first-class mail had been delivered on time while 36% of inbound mail had been delivered on time in the last three months.
DeJoy blamed the problem on the difficulty in condensing operations at the facility.
With the approaching primary, state lawmakers are concerned the ongoing mail delays could disrupt the election process.
Mike Hassinger, a spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office, told State Affairs that Georgia voters are ready.
“Georgia voters are already registered,” he said. “They know how they like to vote. More than half of them vote early. About 5% vote absentee by mail, just in general, and then the rest are voting on election day. So we’ve been able to set up systems that are familiar with Georgia voters so that the percentage who might be worried about their absentee by mail ballots are relatively small.”
Why It Matters
Georgia emerged as one of the country’s most important political battleground states during the 2020 election. The Peach State will once again play a key role in deciding who wins the 2024 presidential election in November.
In the May 21 primary, Georgia voters will whittle down their choices for who they send to Congress and to the state capitol next year.
Under a federal court-approved redistricting process last year, Georgia now has new congressional and state district electoral maps. Those maps created one majority Black seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, five new majority-Black districts in the state House and two in the state Senate.
The redistricting resulted in new seats, intriguing matchups and former politicians returning to the fray. You can see the newly drawn maps here.
What’s Next?
Here’s what you need to know to ensure a smooth voting process:
To vote early.
Early voting is April 29 to May 17. Find your polling place here.
To vote absentee.
Here’s what you can do to avoid problems if you vote absentee:
- Get your absentee ballot application done early. You can request an absentee ballot here.
- Track your application through Georgia BallotTrax. You must have a valid absentee request on file with your county board of elections in order to see your absentee ballot status in Georgia BallottTrax.
- If you’ve been having mail delays, place your completed absentee ballot in an official drop box during advanced voting instead of using the United States Postal Service. Check your county voter registration and election office for drop box locations. And yes, your absentee ballot counts. It is counted in the final tally not just close races.
- If you change your mind about voting absentee and decide to vote in person, take your absentee ballot to your local elections office where they will void it.
- If you need to contact your county election office, find that information here.
Have questions, comments or tips? Contact Tammy Joyner on X @lvjoyner or at [email protected].
And subscribe to State Affairs so you do not miss any news you need to know.
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