In regard to winter maintenance workers, sources say, ‘unfortunately, they may not be there’

By Mia Maldonado, Oregon Capital Chronicle

The Oregon Department of Transportation is rushing to fill vacant positions as it recovers from resignations and a hiring freeze.

The department normally begins hiring winter maintenance positions in July, Deputy Director Travis Brouwer told the Joint Committee on Transportation on Wednesday afternoon at the Oregon Capitol. But the threat of layoffs as the department waited for legislative action spurred an exodus of the state’s transportation workers, he said. 

Between late June to late September, the department saw 206 total employee resignations. Half of those who left the department chose to retire or resigned after receiving layoff notices.

After lawmakers failed to pass a transportation funding plan during the six-month legislative session, the department identified 483 planned layoffs and eliminated 449 vacant positions. Gov. Tina Kotek suspended those layoffs, originally set to begin in July, twice while waiting for legislative action, and they won’t move forward after the Oregon Senate on Monday passed a $4.3 billion transportation package that will fund transportation jobs over the next 10 years.

It took a month-long special session between August and September for Oregon Democrats to get all the votes they needed to pass a transportation bill. Now, the department is behind on hiring people to plow Oregon’s roads in the winter and to provide customer service support to Oregonians needing to update their vehicle registrations and licenses.

“Unfortunately, they may not be there,” Brouwer said about winter maintenance workers — adding that it takes time to train staff to operate heavy commercial vehicles. “You know, when the first snowflakes hit the state. That can happen in November, but we hope to have them for winter operations a little bit later in the season.”

The department is also prioritizing hiring workers at its Driver and Motor Vehicle Services division offices. Brouwer said the department saw a 25% increase in DMV office closures because it didn’t have sufficient staff in many of Oregon’s smaller offices.

“There’s no easy way to fill 759 positions, particularly when we don’t have the money in the bank accounts yet,” Brouwer said. 

The department will hire slowly at first and likely leave many positions vacant until it has enough revenue to cover the positions over the course of the 2025-27 two-year budget cycle, he said.

Mia Maldonado covers Oregon and state legislature with a focus on social services for Oregon Capital Chronicle. She started her career in journalism with Oregon Capital Chronicle’s sister outlet in Idaho, the Idaho Capital Sun.