The Virginia Department of Transportation on Monday began telling some 600 workers they will be out of a job within the coming months, as the agency cuts its payroll to counter a $2.6 billion revenue shortfall.
But less than half of those employees will end up jobless in September or October, with the rest likely being placed in other positions at VDOT or state government, according to VDOT Commissioner David Ekern.
The announcement follows the department’s severance of 450 part-time workers last month, and comes ahead of a final round of cuts in the winter.
In all, the department plans to shed about 1,450 full- and part-time positions, saving about $391 million over the next six years. The payroll reductions coincide with an about $2 billion cut to road construction funding over that period, and the scaling back of services such as roadside mowing and closing highway rest areas.
“We do not enter into this part of the blueprint with any kind of easiness,” Ekern told reporters on a conference call announcing the most recent round of layoffs.
“And very frankly, it’s hard for all of us.”
Northern Virginia is home to 50 of the eliminated positions, he said, with the rest divided across VDOT’s other eight districts and its central office in Richmond. The jobs are concentrated in equipment maintenance, inspection, environmental processing, project development and right-of-way acquisition.
Many of those employees have made careers with the transportation agency that span decades.
“It is not unusual to find employees who are entering their fifth decade of service with the department,” Ekern said.
He said the staff reductions did not touch the agency’s “primary focus” of emergency response capabilities.
The painful personnel cuts have taken a back stage to the shuttered highway rest areas, perhaps the most visible sign of VDOT’s budget woes. VDOT recently barricaded 18 of the 42 rest stops, saving about $9 million a year but drawing protest from truckers, tourism groups and politicians.
