DENVER — More city employees learned they were being laid off on Tuesday, as the City of Denver works to address a $200 million budget shortfall.
The city began laying off employees on Monday.
Many of the employees laid off on Tuesday worked for the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI).
Denver7 has been listening to city employees over the past couple of days, as they waited to learn their fate.
"Over the last couple of weeks, there was definitely a low morale around the office,” said Jessica, who was an administrative assistant for two years at DOTI. “[The] tension was high, and a lot of the conversation was mostly just about having anxiety over the situation.”
Shortly after waking up Tuesday morning, Jessica logged into her computer and saw an invite to a virtual Teams meeting with Amy Ford, the executive director of DOTI.
“It was pretty apparent upon receiving that Teams meeting request what was going to come next,” she said. "So for the next hour, I kind of just sat around with anxiety and, you know, being upset, and waited for that phone call."
It was during that call when Jessica learned she would be laid off.
"Personally, I would have preferred it to just be an email,” Jessica said. “Not have that awkward Teams meeting where you're on the camera crying."
She is among 171 employees the city let go Monday and Tuesday to help address a $200 million budget shortfall.
The city also eliminated more than 660 vacant positions.
“Obviously, these two days are hard days in the life of the city,” said Johnston. “One of the things I think you'll notice is that due to the really difficult work we've done to try to control growth, the budget over the last year and a half, it means that we were able to do about 80% of the reductions yesterday on vacancies and not on filled positions with employees in them.”
In an email sent to DOTI employees on Tuesday afternoon, which was shared with Denver7, Ford said the department had finished its layoff notification process.
“Over the course of the last two days, I have individually spoken with each employee impacted by layoffs to thank them for their service to the department and the city and ensure that they were connected to the appropriate resources post-employment,” Ford wrote. “Each employee affected was a valued member of the DOTI team. Their dedication mattered to us and to those we served. I want to reinforce that the decision to utilize layoffs was a last resort to address an unprecedented budget situation, and not one that was taken lightly by me or the Mayor.”
Jessica says prior to working for DOTI, she spent two years as an on-call employee at the Denver Department of Housing Stability (HOST). But because it was considered a temporary position, she said it didn’t count toward her years of service and therefore wasn’t a factor in helping the DOTI determine who to lay off.
“It's really frustrating that those two years of service I had as an on-call aren't totally included in my years of service,” said Jessica.
She now finds herself back on the job market.
"I do already have some friends reaching out and, you know, saying we might have openings where I am like, let me know if I can look over your resume,” said Jessica. “So, it's nice to have that community here in Denver. I feel like Denver is a very community-based city, and people are willing to go out of their way to help you.”
The city is providing laid-off employees with one month of paid administrative leave and two to 8 weeks of severance pay, depending on their years of service.
Ford said Johnston would be conducting a virtual town hall on Wednesday morning. She said DOTI will hold virtual town halls next Tuesday, Aug. 26.
Johnston will also host a roundtable with reporters on Wednesday to provide more details about the layoffs and his plan to address the remaining budget shortfall.
