Thousands of Tennessee state employees will vacate their jobs next month as part of a statewide program to reduce spending.
The Voluntary Buyout Program, known as the VBP, offers a severance package to over 12,000 state employees in return for the willing abdication of their jobs, in hopes that 2,277 will accept.
Employees who apply and are accepted into the program will receive four months of salary, as well as an extra $500 for each year of state service. Additionally, those employees will receive six months of health care.
According to state officials, the buyouts are necessary to save $64 million from the state budget, especially now that sales tax revenues are falling with a declining economy.
“We saw a problem with the sales taxes, and it just got worse,” said Lola Potter, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration. “Most people would agree that consumer confidence was down a bit. If they’re not buying, we’re not collecting the sales tax.”
Some employees, such as prospective retirees, have embraced the program. Others, however, remain wary.
“Most of us feel like we’re going to be laid off, regardless,” said a source who stands to lose her job. “And if we get laid off without taking the package, we don’t get severance pay or anything. We’ll just be gone. And most of us are really unhappy about it.”
State officials are unsure as to whether additional people will be laid off if 2,277 people don’t accept the package. Sources in state jobs say that their jobs are being “demolished,” and many feel they are under the threat of being fired for refusing to apply to the program. State officials, however, vehemently deny that any employee will be fired for such an action.
The 12,000 eligible employees were selected from an initial pool of 47,000. Officials believe that these are the positions most easily liquidated to fewer employees, and they insist that with increases in technology, these cutbacks will not affect state services.
Nevertheless, thousands of employees remain unsure about their job security, and many fear more layoffs after January. According to the program’s Web site, involuntary reductions may take place if the necessary numbers aren’t met through the program.
In the crunch to reduce job force, many ineligible employees feel especially vulnerable to future layoffs. The VBP only applies to workers with more than six years of state service, so employees with the least seniority remain concerned about their job security as well. Furthermore, employees who apply for the package and don’t receive it could once again fall victim to future layoffs.
“We’re already looking for other jobs,” said a source, despite the state’s repeated declaration that they are unsure of future layoffs. “Most of us aren’t retirement age, and aren’t eligible for the buyout. Even if we were, most of us couldn’t afford to take it.”
The threat of involuntary termination is already in full swing in the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. By Sept. 30, 57 jobs will be eliminated, whether or not people applied for the buyout package. For DCS employees who are laid off after opting not to participate in the program, little or no severance will be offered.
Eligible employees have until Aug. 5 to apply for the buyout. After that, state officials will be able to better determine the status of future cutbacks, as well as the effects of any additional unemployment.
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