Recruitment, Retention, and Staffing Issues

OBJECTIVES: The objective ofthe Engineering Recruitment and Retention Study will be to focus on how the Cabinet's salary and compensation package for engineers compare to other states, local government, and private industry in order to determine if the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is properly compensating their engineers for similar work. Variables such as working conditions, job security, average workload, hours per week, and geographical location will be considered in the compensation evaluation. The end result of this study will be a series of guidelines to aide human resources in the recruitment and training of engineers within the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. BACKGROUND: The recruitment and retention of quality engineers is a problem facing many state and local governments. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is just one of many states facing the problem as the need for quality engineers continues to outpace the supply. The two key underlying components to the engineering work force is the recruitment of new engineers as well as the retention of existing engineers. At the present time the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet does offer scholarships to undergraduate engineering students based on the condition that for every year of scholarship aide, a year of work for the Cabinet is required. However, many times these new engineers will simply complete the minimum length of tenure that is required to fulfill contractual obligations before leaving the state for a job in private industry. It is thought that the most predominant factor in the decision to leave the Cabinet is the additional salary that they may earn by seeking employment elsewhere. This project will focus on the reasons for departure from state government by engineers and look at ways to retain engineers within the Cabinet. FY 2007 PROPOSED WORK: It is anticipated that this project work will be completed and the results documented within the 2007 fiscal year. PROGRAMMED COST FY 2007: TOTAL ESTIMATED COST: $50,000 $75,000