Marion County is getting hit the hardest by hundreds of transportation department layoffs as agency leaders seek to save money.

Last week, the Oregon Department of Transportation announced it will lay off 483 employees after a funding bill for the agency failed to pass the state legislature.

Of the people to be laid off July 31, 165 have jobs based in Marion County — one third of the total slated for layoffs. Their layoffs will save the department $24 million per year, spokeswoman Mindy McCartt said.

The department will also cut 174 vacant positions in Marion County, saving another $23 million per year.

Gov. Tina Kotek announced the layoffs publicly last week in a statement. Employees were notified by phone call or email at noon July 7, two hours before Kotek made the public announcement.

People losing their jobs were delivering “basic services to Oregonians,” the governor said,  including filling potholes and basic road repairs, roadside cleanup, improvement projects and wildfire prevention.

There is little information on the impact to the agency’s Salem workforce since the announcement. But with state government by far Salem’s largest employer, government layoffs tend to have an outsized impact in the capital.

ODOT does not yet have a count for how many of the cut Marion County positions were employees working at the department’s Salem headquarters, McCartt said. The agency’s administrative offices and the Department of Motor Vehicles headquarters are also in Salem.

Statewide, the most common position laid off was transportation maintenance specialist.

But in Marion County, laid off workers were more commonly in information technology or other administrative functions. They include 48 information systems specialists, as well as operations and policy analysts and various engineering jobs.

Many of the vacant Marion County positions being cut are also in engineering and maintenance.

Funding for vacant positions has gone toward overtime costs, contract work and other unanticipated costs, McCartt said.

No currently filled ODOT positions in Polk County are planned to be cut.

The number of positions cut could change as employees go through a bumping process, which allows more senior employees represented by a union to take lower-ranking positions instead of leaving.

Former employees might be able to find jobs at other state agencies.

“The state has a well-defined process for transitioning staff between agencies if an agency must reduce its workforce, which includes potential recall list options that employees can opt into,” ODOT spokeswoman Kacey Davey said in an email. She said the transportation department was working with other state agencies “to provide as many opportunities as possible for any affected staff.”

Of the employees given layoff notices, most are represented by the Service Employees International Union, one of the largest public sector unions in the state. Spokeswoman Pati Urias said that 279 of the staff laid off are represented by the union.

Employees represented by the Association of Engineering Employees were also affected by the layoffs. Around 50 of the laid-off employees are not represented by a union, according to Kim Parker-Llerenas, executive director of Willamette Workforce Partnership.

Parker-Llerenas told Salem Reporter that Oregon workforce organizations will provide resources for laid-off employees from July 23-30, including help with unemployment benefits, health care coverage and career counseling.

The layoffs came after the Oregon Legislature finished its session June 27 without passing a transportation package to fund the agency’s staffing and help fill a $300 million budget shortfall.

The agency is also cutting 449 vacant positions that were planned to be filled with funding from the package.

ODOT Director Kristopher Strickler called lawmakers’ failure to pass the legislation “shocking, scary and frustrating,” in a July 1 email to employees, according to reporting from Oregon Capital Chronicle.

The layoffs are part of a plan to cut $355 million from ODOT’s budget. The savings are almost evenly divided between reductions in staff and resources, such as purchasing new materials or vehicles.

If the agency’s shortfall is not met after these layoffs, another round is expected early next year, according to Kotek, raising the total number of employees laid off to 600 to 700.

Salem Reporter wants to report on how these layoffs will affect Salem and its workforce. If you were an ODOT employee recently laid off, we’d like to hear from you. Please email reporter Madeleine Moore at [email protected].

Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].

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