After years of shrinking pay and high vacancies, state employees feel the stress | Opinion

It’s obvious that high vacancies and low pay create stress for state employees and teachers in North Carolina, but the comment from state Department of Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins was still startling..

During a recent legislative hearing, Hopkins was asked by Sen. Julie Mayfield, D-Buncombe, whether staff shortages have contributed to complaints about services from the Division of Motor Vehicles. Hopkins replied, “Staffing is definitely part of the problem.” He added that it’s a problem across his department, where one in five jobs are empty and employees are overworked.

Then he said: “We had nine employees attempt suicide last year. We shouldn’t have any. That’s a big number.”

I called the Department of Transportation (DOT) for further explanation. Tanner Holland, a DOT communications officer, said Hopkins’ comment shouldn’t be understood as workplace stress driving employees to take their own lives. He noted that the construction industry overall is experiencing a spike in suicides.

“I strongly believe the vacancy rate and the suicides are two separate things that should not be correlated,” he said.

But Holland also said that the number of suicide attempts among DOT employees since January of 2023 was actually 10, five of them successful.

I couldn’t reach Hopkins for a clarification, but Mayfield understood his comment just as he said it.

“I took that to mean that because of the understaffing that the jobs have become so stressful that people are taking that extreme action,” she said. “Obviously, someone who does that does it for multiple reasons, but a stressful workplace can compound other mental health issues.”

Mayfield said she is concerned about the effects of high vacancy rates on employees and on state services. “The governor has championed higher raises and we continue to think that is an important step to take to both hire the people the state needs and to retain them,” she said.

Among a DOT workforce of more than 9,000 people, 10 suicide attempts and five deaths is a tiny percentage. But it’s high compared to the U.S. annual rate of 14 per 100,000 people.

Ardis Watkins, executive director of the State Employees Association of North Carolina, said burnout is common among state employees who are stretched thin. Across the state employee workforce, the vacancy rate is more than 20 percent. Among correctional officers, the rate can be double that.

How stress is affecting the 68,000 workers employed by state agencies is hard to measure. But one indicator might be found among those who seek counseling from the state-sponsored Employee Assistance Plan (EAP). In April, 856 sought help, down slightly from 872 in April 2023.

Nancy Astrike, director of the Diversity and Workforce Services Division within the Office of State Human Resources, said, “Workplace stress continues to be the top reason for accessing services, which is followed by grief and loss.”

No one – except perhaps some politicians – expects to get rich serving the public. State employees generally make 15 percent less than they would in an equivalent job in the private sector. But job security, regular raises and health and retirement benefits, as well as the satisfaction of serving the public, can make the work worthwhile.

But state pay levels and pension payments have been reduced by inflation and family health insurance premiums are high. Meanwhile, a booming economy and low unemployment make it harder for the state to attract and retain employees. Many leave after the state invests thousands of dollars training them in skills they can take to the private sector.

A similar crisis is happening with the state’s public schools, where vacancies are high among teachers and support personnel from bus drivers to school psychologists and nurses.

Despite Gov. Roy Cooper’s calls for larger raises for state employees and teachers, the Republican-controlled legislature has let inflation outpace compensation. Now, with another budget surplus on hand, Republican lawmakers are talking about giving money back to taxpayers rather than doing more for those who serve them.

Maybe Hopkins misspoke or was inadvertently dramatic in his testimony about suicide and workplace stress, but it’s undeniable that the state’s public servants are hurting and when they are, public service suffers, too.

Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett @newsobserver.com