Sept. 23, 2020 By Allie Griffin
More than 9,000 city employees will be furloughed as the city faces a major budget deficit spurred by the coronavirus shutdown, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today.
Thousands of managerial and non-union city employees must take five days of furlough between October and March, which will save the city $21 million, the mayor said.
The news expands on the announcement de Blasio made last week that he and his mayoral staff of roughly 500 employees will also take a week-long furlough.
The furloughs will help offset the $9 billion revenue hole the city is facing amid the pandemic.
“[It’s] something that’s very painful to have to announce,” de Blasio said. “It has real human consequences but it is necessary.”
However, furloughs will only buy the city more time to balance its budget, he said — adding that layoffs could still happen later on.
“We need to keep finding savings to keep bridging us to give us a chance to get something better than layoffs,” de Blasio said. “No one wants to see layoffs, but unfortunately they’re still on the table.”
He has previously warned that he may lay off 22,000 municipal employees if the city doesn’t get either federal assistance or borrowing power from the state.
The city is continuing to work with union leaders to find savings and avoid layoffs, the mayor added.
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