Who Are Our Essential Workers?

During this historic time of pandemic, Lawrence and Douglas County employees were resolute in working to maintain some sense of normalcy for local residents.

by Emily Mulligan

During the first couple of months of the COVID-19 outbreak, Gov. Laura Kelly’s words and executive orders were the guiding lights for Kansans. So when she signed Executive Order No. 20-16 on March 28, 2020, calling for a statewide “stay-home” order, she also defined which types of businesses across the state were exceptions for remaining operational.

The governor’s order listed the following as “essential businesses” at that time: hospitals, child-care facilities, government operations, food and beverage sales and manufacturing, liquor stores, utility companies and lawncare services. Schools already were shut down across the state at the time of the order, so they were not included on the list. According to the database of The Chamber in Lawrence, using the governor’s definition, about 22,000 workers in Douglas County are considered essential workers. That is a substantial proportion of the approximately 80,000-person workforce in a population of about 112,000. Both the City of Lawrence and the government of Douglas County have remained operating—with some modifications, of course—throughout the year. Their workforces handle a wide range of jobs, from first responders and law enforcement to information technology and parks. How many people work which types of essential jobs in Douglas County? What are the highest-paying job sectors for essential workers? Who comprises the city and county workforces? Local databases and numbers shed some light on those questions and more.

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13,000 About two-thirds of essential jobs in Lawrence are held by workers in food services, food retail, alcohol and beverage retail, and accommodations. More than 13,000 jobs fall into those categories. That includes grocery store workers, liquor store workers, cafeteria workers and hotel employees. Notable for the COVID era, it also includes dining and drinking establishments, many of which were forced to close their dining rooms and bars because of the governor’s executive order and, subsequently, Douglas County Health authorities. So the workforce in those categories that stayed intact and employed during the shutdown would have been much smaller, but there was no official measure in place.

1,900 The second-largest category of essential workers in Douglas County is local government, which employs almost 1,900 people. More details about local government workers in both the City of Lawrence and Douglas County government will follow in the next sections.

800 After government, the next-largest essential workforce is in child care and child and youth services, which employs about 800 workers in the county. Child-care centers were deemed essential during the “stay-home” time in order to care for the children of essential workers. Because school was not in session, child care became critical for essential workers to be able to leave home and work their jobs.

500 There are more than 500 hospital workers in Douglas County (preCOVID). At the beginning of the shutdown, LMH Health pared back its services to exclude elective surgeries and nonurgent procedures to prepare the hospital for accommodating and isolating virus patients. That led to declining revenues of about $1 million per week and, ultimately, temporary furloughs of about 220 hospital employees until the summer, when those surgeries and procedures were reinstated.

300 Utilities employ about 300 people in Douglas County. That includes the city’s water and wastewater operations, as well as local employees of Evergy electrical utility and Black Hills Energy natural gas utility. Those employees have remained on the job to maintain and respond to outages and emergencies—with virus-related safety precautions in place—throughout the shutdown.

Pre-COVID Salary Ranges for Essential Work Categories

Utility workers have the highest annual wages per worker, according to The Chamber database, ranging from $58,000 to $94,000. Those wages have risen more than 14 percent in the past five years, the database indicates.

Animal food manufacturing, wholesale alcoholic beverages and (people) food manufacturing have the next-highest annual salaries per essential worker. Animal food manufacturing, which employs just under 200 people, averages $75,000, while food processing and manufacturing ranges from $54,000 to $62,000 annually. Wholesale alcoholic beverage sales and distribution, which employs about 250 people, averages between $47,000 and $66,000 annually.

Hospital workers, per The Chamber database have annual salaries at about $49,000 per year and wastewater and sewage workers, about 25 people, at $43,000 to $46,000 annually.

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38 860 The City of Lawrence employs about 860 full-time and part-time permanent workers, according to information provided by Communications and Creative Resources Director Porter Arneill. (That number does not include part-time seasonal or temporary workers.) 300 The biggest city department is the Municipal Services and Operations division, formerly Public Works and Utilities, which employs more than 300 people to maintain the city’s various types of infrastructure. More than 300 also comprise the first responder force and support for police and Fire Medical. 78 About 78 people work in Parks and Recreation. Most of the rest of the city’s workforce is part of the city administration, including the City Manager’s office, Finance, Planning and Development, and legal and information technology. City employees are about 72 percent male and 22 percent female as of this fall. That number does not total 100 percent because of job vacancies at the time it was tallied. About 463, or 54 percent, of City of Lawrence employees live in the city. Another 12 percent live in Douglas County, including Baldwin City, Eudora and Lecompton. The remaining 27 percent commute to their jobs from outside of Douglas County. Again, job vacancies account for the remainder. The City’s essential workers continued to report for work throughout the “stay-home” order and all reopening phases, Arneill explains—some shifting their workspaces to home—while others continued to report to work sites around the city. One essential worker for the city says, “I appreciate how all city employees worked together and rallied during these tough times to make sure essential services were delivered consistently to help everyone through the crisis.” With schools suddenly closed, and partners or spouses having to work from home, “It’s also important to remember that many of our families made sacrifices so we could keep working,” another worker adds.

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462 The government of Douglas County employs 462 permanent employees, both full-time and part-time, says Karrey Britt, communications specialist. County workers tend to be loyal: As an overall group, they average nine years of service. The average age is 43, with 42 percent of them are under 40 years of age. 161 The Sheriff’s Office is the largest department with 161 employees, overseeing both law enforcement and the jail. 56 Public Works, is the next-largest county department with 56 employees, and Criminal Justice Services is a close third, with 53 employees. The rest of the 16 total departments range from four to 33 employees, including treasurer, district attorney, maintenance and district court. Britt says the responsibilities within the jobs for the county are important because the county’s services affect residents’ everyday lives, from the roads they drive on to the safety standards of the buildings in which they live and work. Most people readily understand why services such as law enforcement are essential during the pandemic, but equally essential to business and safety are things like building permits, road maintenance and land records. County Administrator Sarah Plinsky explains, “While I was in college, I thought I wanted to work for the state because I thought local government was mostly about roads and sewers. It is about roads and sewers, but it’s also about people. That’s when I decided that I wanted to work for local government.” Sixty-four Douglas County employees have worked for the county for more than 21 years. Britt says employees tell her they stay working for the county because they “enjoy helping people and making a difference in the community.” Pam Weigand, director of Criminal Justice Services, has worked for the county since 1992. “When you think back over your life, you really remember moments in time. Everybody here hopes to make a connection with a person in one way or another. You hope that somehow that one moment in time connects with that person and helps make the difference for them, or helps them feel supported,” she says. p

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