State Workforce Down, Consultants on the Rise and Costing State More

ALBANY, NY - The New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) today released its second in a series of reports on how much money the state wastes by relying on costly consultants to do the work state employees can do for less.

The most recent report, "New York's Consultants: The Invisible Workforce," reveals that from fiscal year 2008-09 to 2011-12, the state hired at least 1,300 additional consultants, for an increase of 24 percent while decreasing the state workforce by more than 14,000 employees. And it cost the state much more money than having state employees do the same work even with the costs of benefits included.

"The state continues to waste the most money hiring consultants to do work on engineering and information technology, work that will always be there and work our members can do for far less," said PEF President Ken Brynien.

The state paid between $133.31 and $239.67 per hour for some information technology consultants. State employees are paid an average of $55.72 per hour, including benefits to do the same work. It gets worse when you factor in consultant costs for accountants and auditors. Some consultants are paid $204.72 per hour, while state employees are paid $52.82 per hour for the same work.

"There are millions in savings to be had," Brynien added. "We will continue to push the Legislature to pass the cost-benefit analysis bill (S3093/A5128-A) sponsored by Senator Joe Robach and Assemblyman Harry Bronson. The bill requires state agencies to do a cost comparison to determine whether state employees could do the same work at a lower cost. Our research continues to prove we can do the work for less."

The report: "New York's Consultants: The Invisible Workforce," details how many consultants the state employed over the past several years, which agencies rely on consultants the most, what services the consultants provide, the agencies and consulting services with the greatest growth and the type of consultant companies with the largest contracts with the state.