As state employees leave early, agencies worry about services The Republican-American
The Commission on the Deaf and Hearing Impaired is losing half of its small office staff to early retirements.
The commission's five retiring workers are among nearly 3,500 state employees who have retired or signed up to participate in a retirement incentive plan that is designed to save the state hundreds of millions of dollars in the next two years.
While it is too soon to assess the full impact of the mass retirements, some state agencies are already warning that vital services will be in jeopardy if retiring workers are not replaced.
There are approximately 300,000 people who are deaf or have difficulty hearing in Connecticut today.
Stacie J. Mawson, executive director of the Commission on the Deaf and Hearing Impaired, worries the retirements could undercut services for her agency's clients.
"We are losing our whole counseling department. There are three people there, and they are all retiring," Mawson said.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell plans to strictly limit the number of positions that are refilled after all the retirements to reduce the size of the state's labor force and the costs of sate government.
Mawson has asked the governor's office to allow her commission to replace two of its three retiring counselors. She is awaiting Rell's decision.
"I know the deaf community is very concerned about what is going to happen," Mawson said.
Rell has declared the retirement incentive plan a success. It is part of an overall concession agreement that the governor and state employee unions negotiated earlier this year. The deal, which the legislature approved in May, is expected to save $700 million.
There are about 55,000 full-time workers in state government, including approximately 9,000 who qualify for the early retirement incentives.
State officials originally estimated that 3,000 workers would retire under the incentive plan. Through mid-June, 3,460 employees had accepted the offer. The deadline is June 30, the last day of the state's 2009 fiscal year.