At a Glance
- Union leader Carol Guthrie says T.C. Broadnax told department heads Austin has 1,500-2,000 excess workers
- City spokesperson denies “bloated” label but confirms the manager cites higher headcount than peer cities
- Council Member Mike Siegel will push a Jan. 22 resolution forcing formal union consultation on reorganizations
- Why it matters: One in nine city jobs could be scrutinized under efficiency push, stoking fear of future layoffs
Austin’s top administrator is under fire after union officials alleged he privately labeled the city workforce over-staffed, stoking anxiety that forthcoming departmental consolidations could trigger layoffs.
Carol Guthrie, president of AFSCME Local 1624, told News Of Austin last week that a city employee who attended a fall meeting with City Manager T.C. Broadnax and 45 department heads passed along the remark. “First, he said there won’t be any layoffs,” Guthrie recounted. “Then, in this meeting, he said that the city is bloated. They have about 1,500 to 2,000 too many employees.”
With roughly 13,500 city workers on payroll, such a cut would eliminate about one in nine positions.
Denial and Defense
A city spokesperson rejected the idea that Broadnax used the word “bloated,” yet acknowledged he “has said in various meetings that the city has 1,500 to 2,000 more employees than peer cities of similar size.” The same spokesperson added Broadnax believes “the city is not an employment agency and that we are a customer-service organization.”
The context for the controversy is Shared Services Optimization, an efficiency drive led by the Department of Budget and Organizational Excellence. According to a November memo from Broadnax, the project seeks to reduce duplicated services across Human Resources, Development Services, Financial Services, Fleet Mobility Services, and other departments to deliver support “in a more consistent, customer-centered, and cost-effective way.”
IT Mergers and Staff Ratios
Parallel scrutiny is falling on the Austin Technology Services department. Broadnax’s memo noted an assessment showing Austin carries “nearly twice the number of IT staff and double the technology spending compared to similar cities,” with most personnel scattered in individual departments rather than centralized. Consolidation into ATS could take up to three years, the memo said.
Despite official assurances of transparency, Guthrie predicted job losses. “We’re not buying that people aren’t going to lose their jobs,” she said. “We think this approach is much like the DOGE approach. It’s very top-down.”
Council Steps In
Council Member Mike Siegel plans to file a resolution at Council’s January 22 session that would require Broadnax to meet with AFSCME and craft a formal consultation policy. The measure already has four co-sponsors: Vanessa Fuentes, José Velásquez, Krista Laine, and Zo Qadri. If passed, both sides would have until February 26 to deliver a final policy for Council approval.
The proposed rules would create a joint labor-management committee allowing union delegates to discuss:
- Employment policies and procedures
- Working conditions
- Departmental reorganizations or restructuring
- Budgets, forecasts, and market studies
- Benefit changes
- Possible reductions in force
First meetings would start within 30 days of the February vote.
Union Pushback
Brydan Summers, AFSCME Local 1624 president, welcomed Siegel’s intervention, arguing frontline employees best understand operational inefficiencies. “Workers just generally deserve a seat at the table whenever there’s these big organizational changes being decided upon,” Summers said. “Being able to relay that information to the city manager … will be good for all of us.”
City staffers, meanwhile, trade rumors and console one another, Guthrie said, convinced that optimization equals downsizing. Until formal consultation exists, union leaders vow to keep pressure on both Broadnax and Council to protect jobs while pursuing efficiency.
Key Takeaways
- Broadnax is accused of calling Austin’s workforce bloated; his office denies the term but confirms higher staffing versus peer cities
- Shared Services Optimization and IT consolidation could affect thousands of positions
- A Jan. 22 Council resolution seeks to give AFSCME mandatory consultation rights on future reorganizations
- Union officials fear a top-down efficiency drive will lead to layoffs despite current no-layoff pledges
