These Outagamie County employers need more than 100 employees now. Find out where and why there is record-high turnover.

APPLETON - With pandemic-induced stress and uncompetitive wages, Outagamie County is experiencing its highest level of employee turnover on par with the Great Resignation.

So far this year, 136 county employees have left their jobs, with roughly 75% of them quitting. That averages out to a person per day leaving their job, according to the county's human resources department. If employee turnover continues at this rate, the county will be on track to lose 342 this year, said Deputy Director of Human Resources Justin Kluesner.

The top three county employers facing the biggest employee pinch include: Appleton International Airport with 22; Brewster Village nursing home with 48, and Health and Human Services Department with 39.

The COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on many hospitals, nursing home and other health care facilities statewide. Outagamie County is no exception.

Health and Human Services Director John Rathman recently told The Post-Crescent some employees are leaving the county for jobs in the private sector with more consistent working hours and work-from-home options.

"Because of COVID people are looking for different opportunities, different work-life balance situations," he said. "We certainly have seen an increase in our resignations."

To fill the vacancies, the county is hiring 30 to 40 employees a month, which is typically the amount for an entire year, Kluesner told county board members at its May 24 meeting.

While the county is experiencing record levels of employee turnovers, Kluesner said the county is in line with what other public and private employers are experiencing.

A survey from MissionSquare Research Institute found 36% of public sector employees considered changing their job during the pandemic, while 28% considered leaving the public sector.

Employee turnover in Outagamie County spiked in 2021 as well, with 261 resignations and 100 retirements — a 40% increase in resignations and over 50% increase in retirements from 2020.

A recent county employee survey found two-thirds of employees experience "significant stress" in their county roles.

Rathman said he's noticed employees under greater stress since the pandemic.

The hole left in the department from the high number of turnovers has made it so employees have to pick up additional work or get temporarily reassigned to fill important roles.

"Many of our staff have had two jobs through the whole pandemic," he said in reference to staff needing to take on extra duties to compensate for the high turnover.

There are currently 40 open positions in the Health and Human Services Department, according to county human resources.

Historically, the public sector has had more employee stability, Rathman said. But since the pandemic, he's noticed more are leaving for jobs in less stressful fields.

Rathman has especially noticed this in his department where there are some 24-hour positions in its crisis hotlines.

There are also a lot of roles in the department that require employees to work nightshifts or over weekends and holidays. Rathman said since the pandemic, more people are leaving these roles for positions in daytime roles or work-from-home opportunities.

The Health and Human Services Department currently has 346 employees and has had 31 resignations and eight retirements this year, according to the county human resources department.

Appleton airport Director Abe Weber told The Post-Crescent the majority of the airport's resignations come from its casual call employees who are also leaving for different opportunities and more consistent work.

Casual call employees are brought on and off to fill necessary roles as they're needed, such as snow removal or landscaping.

The airport has 100 county employees comprised of airport administration, facility maintenance and external maintenance. But the department has had 21 resignations since January, according to the county human resources department.

The county is also struggling to maintain competitive wages with private sector, Financial Services Director Yvette Mueller told county board members at their last meeting.

In an effort to retain and attract full-time employees, the county board authorized a compensation analysis study to find out how competitive county employee wages are.

The county board also passed a resolution to provide those who stay in their county jobs through the end of the year an additional $1,500. The bonuses will be distributed in two, one-time payments — $500 in June and another of $1000 in December.

Sophia Voight is a government watchdog reporter for the Appleton Post-Crescent. She can be reached at svoight@postcrescent.com or 920-993-7102. 

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Outagamie County airport, health department losing staff at record rate