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Why There Are So Many Vacant City Jobs

A man speaks with a woman who at an L.A. city job fair.
A woman with the Department of Water and Power talks about job openings with a man at an L.A. city job fair. The city job vacancy rate is 17.4% - up from 10% a decade ago.
(
Frank Stoltze
)

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Topline:

Government services that Angelenos depend on are moving slower because of city and county staffing shortages. Here’s why that is.

Why it matters (to L.A.): There are nearly 10,000 vacant city jobs — from the sanitation and housing departments to animal services. City Controller Kenneth Mejia calls L.A.’s staffing shortage a growing crisis. One area of impact: Housing department officials say they’ve had trouble enforcing tenant protections because there isn't enough staff to follow up on complaints in a timely manner. Plus, the staff that is in place has to do more overtime.

The backstory: Why is there a shortage? The pandemic is part of the answer but there’s more. Listen to the latest How To LA podcast and read Frank’s story to learn more about why there’s a shortfall and how officials are bringing attention to these vacant jobs.

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Why Are There Nearly 10,000 Vacant City Jobs In LA?

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