NORFOLK, Va. — Deputy City Manager Catheryn Whitesell says Norfolk is down nearly 800 city workers.
“Library associates, public safety telecommunicators, support technicians, auto support technicians,” she said.
However, Whitesell said the majority of vacancies come from the police department.
“Probably around 200 vacancies as of today,” Whitesell said.
City leaders are doing their best to search for workers through city advertising and by hosting more job fairs.
“We’re doing the hiring events, we’re going to other people’s hiring events where we can be invited to participate in those,” Whitesell said.
Now, city leaders are taking it a step further by trying to increase the minimum wage.
Norfolk City Manager Chip Filer is proposing to increase a city employee's paycheck from $12 to $18 in next year's budget. This goes beyond the state's years-long plan to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026.
“There’s about 700 titles that make less than 18 dollars an hour in Norfolk, and about 40 percent of those are vacant today,” She said.
He's also asking city council members to approve a 5% wage increase for all city staff. Filer said this would be the biggest salary increase in the last 20 years if city council members approve the budget.
Whitesell said the pay raise also aligns with the city’s commitment to a living wage.
“We want to be the employer of choice in this region, and I think that’s where the city manager’s really positioned this budget to be that,” Whitesell said.
City council members hope to approve the budget by May 10.
The city is hosting a job fair Wednesday at the MacArthur Center from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. City leaders will host another on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.