At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, increased attention turned to government staffing challenges, both in NYC and nationally, as critical vacancies led to declining service delivery and ballooning overtime costs. Nationwide trends like the “Great Resignation,” local policy changes like the return to office for City employees, and delays in delivery of key services, such as processing food stamp applications, led to questions about whether the City had the staff it needs.

Many of these issues were highlighted by the 5BORO Institute in a 2023 report, and Work for America later examined these trends nationally.

The NYC Comptroller’s office sought to assess these staffing shortages locally – asking whether any particular shortages were linked to a decline in service delivery and agency performance. They quickly realized that there was no straightforward way to analyze these issues, since there was no accessible, up-to-date data set tracking staffing across city agencies and roles.

The team needed an efficient, timely way to answer two key questions:

1. For each of NYC’s 80 agencies, and for the City overall, how does actual agency headcount align with the budgeted headcount?
2. And, how do changes in agency headcount relate to service delivery?

The Comptroller’s team developed the NYC Agency Staffing Dashboard as a first step toward monitoring these questions internally. After using the Dashboard internally for a few months, the Comptroller’s team decided to make the Dashboard publicly available.

When public agencies are understaffed, it becomes harder for them to deliver the essential services communities rely on. By integrating and presenting real-time data on staffing levels and vacancies, the Dashboard empowers city leaders to identify issues and take action. The Agency Staffing Dashboard, especially in combination with the Comptroller’s NYC Government Performance Dashboard, also allows City leaders and the public to explore how changes in staffing levels correlate with the quality of public services.

This case study explores how the NYC Comptroller’s Office developed the Dashboard, how data can help prevent declines in service delivery for constituents, and what other local governments can learn about how to make the best use of the data they have to get actionable insights.