HELP WANTED: There are 1,700 unfilled state jobs, but has anyone noticed?

NAVIGATING SHORTAGES: 
R.I. environmental police officer Jacob Malone, left, checks the size of striped bass caught by two unidentified fishermen in Narragansett Bay. The R.I. Department of Environmental Management says staff shortages have made it difficult to schedule such law enforcement ­operations. 
PBN PHOTO/
DAVID HANSEN
NAVIGATING SHORTAGES: 
R.I. environmental police officer Jacob Malone, left, checks the size of striped bass caught by two unidentified fishermen in Narragansett Bay. The R.I. Department of Environmental Management says staff shortages have made it difficult to schedule such law enforcement ­operations. 
PBN PHOTO/
DAVID HANSEN

Stacy Smith says the job for “front-line” workers at the R.I. Department of Human Services isn’t easy in normal times, but the labor market is making it even more difficult. There are too few workers to properly deal with the flood of social services cases the department is receiving, Smith told a state legislative committee

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2 COMMENTS

  1. Thank goodness we are highlighting this important issue and spotlighting the integral piece of our social fabric these jobs represent. Some of us love to complain about the product of governing while also stifling any potential our state could deliver.