TO: AC Transit Board of Directors
FROM: Michael A. Hursh, General Manager
SUBJECT: Bus Operator and Mechanic Hiring Update
BRIEFING ITEM
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Title
Consider receiving status update on the recruitment and hiring effort for bus operators and mechanics. [Requested by Director Shaw - 11/13/19]
Body
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE:
Goal - High-Performing Workforce
Initiative - Employee Recruitment, Training and Retention
The consistent recruitment of successfully hired and trained AC Transit talent, especially in the transportation and operations channels, is a key factor in ensuring the District is meeting its goal of convenient and reliable service.
BUDGETARY/FISCAL IMPACT:
The District allocated $105,000 to implement the recruitment awareness campaign and the mobile recruitment lab.
BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
The San Francisco Bay Area job market is extremely robust. In the first half of the year, the Bay Area alone added 40% of all new California jobs, and according to an article published last October in the Lake County Record-Bee, the September unemployment rate in California hovered around 4%, while the Bay Area unemployment rate was at a record-setting low of 2.2%. Coupled with additional environmental factors like a retirement rate that eclipses the hiring rate, housing shortages, and a continued interest within the current workforce in exploring the gig economy model, AC Transit, like other public transportation service providers in the Bay Area and within the US, is facing an increasing shortfall of qualified employees, particularly in the bus operators and journey-level mechanic classifications. With a significant number of anticipated bus operator and mechanic vacancies, the District saw an urgent need to identify new and innovative methodologies to promote open positions and streamlining the recruiting and hiring processes.
To that end, a multi-departmental task force comprised of the External Affairs and Marketing, Human Resources,...
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