(Photo illustration by Natasha Vicens/PublicSource)
Low diversity in public safety bureaus contributed to White employees earning higher median salaries than other groups.
by Charlie Wolfson, PublicSource
Pittsburgh paid more than $275 million to 3,847 full- and part-time employees in 2021, public records show, including more than $16 million in overtime pay and more than $100 million to the police.
The city came out of a pandemic-induced hiring freeze and brought on 166 new full-time employees in 2021. But as the labor market churned across the nation and then-Mayor Bill Peduto lost his reelection bid, 353 people left city jobs, including significant numbers in the public safety and public works departments.
Racial and gender pay gaps persisted among city employees, with white employees and male employees earning higher median salaries than women or people of color.
Coming and going
The national labor market was in turmoil in 2021, and the city’s employment records show plenty of hires and departures throughout the year. While the end to an early-pandemic hiring freeze unlocked a large number of jobs to be filled in summer 2021, the city did not keep up with its losses.
Across city government, 353 full-time employees departed the city government in 2021, more than double the 166 who were hired during the year. The exodus included 85 employees from the Bureau of Police, 78 from the Department of Public Works, 38 from the Bureau of Fire and 21 from the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services.
The police bureau added just eight employees in 2021. Fifty-one of the city’s 166 hires were in public works, 27 in the fire department and 23 in EMS.
City press secretary Maria Montaño said in a March 31 interview that there are currently 239 vacancies across city departments.
Disparities
More than 84% of public safety employees were White in 2021, and 74% were White men.
In the rest of the city government, 63% of full-time employees were White, almost precisely matching the city’s overall population.
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