More than 24,000 years of experience and institutional knowledge walked out the doors of Houston City Hall as a result of Mayor John Whitmire’s voluntary retirement program, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of data on the employees who participated in the $30 million cost-cutting initiative.
The program was unrolled in March as Whitmire’s team looked for areas the city could cut back on spending. On top of offering retirement to eligible employees, Whitmire implemented a hiring freeze and asked all directors to consolidate their budgets in line with city efficiency study findings.
Houston lost 1,053 of the 2,700 eligible employees through Whitmire’s program. Those exits equated to 24,118 years of lost experience of working with the city, according to the Chronicle’s data analysis…