3 ms·
> Should we fire 10% of the DOC workforce every year? If the inmate population is declining by that amount, then absolutely yes we should. We didn't hire them
by function_seven 6y ago
> Should we fire 10% of the DOC workforce every year?
If the inmate population is declining by that amount, then absolutely yes we should. We didn't hire them in the first place to "give jobs" or "reduce unemployment". We (ostensibly!) hired them to guard prisoners.
When there are fewer prisoners to guard, you need fewer guards. It would be much cheaper to cover their education costs for a different line of work if you're worried about taking people's livelihoods away. (Which is a totally reasonable concern)
It reminds me of the quote about giving ditch diggers spoons instead of shovels to create more jobs:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/10/10/spoons-shovels/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/10/10/spoons-shovels/
- hayst4ck 6y agoFor what it's worth I agree, but I would personally have a hard time firing 1000 people, throwing a wrench in their lives. Especially during a pandemic and especially with poor social programs. When I look at this I am not outraged by the spending. I am outraged by the lack of federal social programs that directly burden the department of corrections with things like health care and retirement. The federal government should be handling these and reaping the economies of scale benefits of doing so.
- function_seven 6y agoI read that graph as tracking the ratio over a decade. Yeah, during the pandemic, by all means freeze normal labor calculations and whatnot. But in the period from 2010 to 2019, as the population was slowly declining, there should have been layoffs (or, at least no new recruitment?). Somehow the staffing levels need to be grounded in reality. And I'm with you. I could never be the axe man. But then again I could also never be a prison guard, so there's that :)