Contributed by the City of Kalamazoo

Kalamazoo, Michigan– The diversity of the City of Kalamazoo’s workforce will not initially suffer when 219 employees retire over the next two years in a budget-trimming program. In fact, employment levels among minority and female municipal workers could increase as a percentage of total employment after early-retirees are subtracted.
A report prepared for the Kalamazoo City Commission shows the city’s current workforce includes 21 percent racial minorities and 31 percent females. When early retirees are removed from the mix, the minority percentage will be 22 percent, with 32 percent female.

Jerome Post, city human resources director, said the report is good news because it indicates Kalamazoo’s municipal workforce will continue to reflect the city’s diversity, one goal
of its hiring practices.
Census data shows 22 percent of city residents are African American; 6.4 percent Hispanic; 1.7 percent Asian; and less than 1 percent Native American.

Post said diversity numbers will fluctuate as the city decides how many of the 219 retirement vacancies will be backfilled.
According to the report, 130 of the ERI participants, or 60 percent are white males, reflecting hiring trends from the 1980s.

The city unveiled the ERI in late 2012, offering employees who would qualify to retire by 2015 the ability to leave early with a 1 percent base salary departure check. The 219 participants will be leaving over the next two years and only a portion of them will be replaced as the city reorganizes its service delivery. New hires will earn less than the incumbents they replace and fringe benefits also will be less.

The plan is designed to help Kalamazoo erase a $6 million budget deficit in 2012-13 and strategically manage employment turnover. Nearly 200 of the 265 city employees eligible for ERI would have qualified for retirement by 2015 anyway.

Post said federal law requires the city to have an Equal Opportunity Employment plan, but does not set employment quotas. A state constitutional amendment approved by Michigan
voters in 2006 allows affirmative action plans for public employers.
“We want city staff to be reflective of the community we serve. But there are not target numbers,” Post said. “We’re striving for an increasing number of minorities and females in
most of the hiring pools.”

Post said qualifications remain the top consideration when hiring decisions are made.

“We don’t lower our standards. That would be insulting to the minority groups,” Post said. “We believe they can meet the high standard.”
One department traditionally challenged in minority recruiting is Public Safety, according to Post.
“I can look at a crowd of people at a (Public Safety) recruiting meeting and count on two hands the number of minorities there,” said Post. One solution may be to create what Post calls “an organization that’s recognized as warm and welcoming.”

The city tests language, writing and math skills as part of its hiring process for Public Safety officers. Post said he’s observed a disproportionate percentage of African Americans
underperform in math.

Post said Public Safety candidates who need to strengthen one or more of those skills can participate in a testing tutorial offered as part of the recruitment process prior to taking the exam.