Courthouse job cuts hit women harder than men

Women have born the brunt of job cuts by Whitman County since the financial collapse of 2008.

The gender of county employees of Whitman County is reported monthly to the federal Department of Labor. Those statistics show 23 fewer women are employed by Whitman County today than were working for the county in September of 2008, when the recession began.

Over that same time span, the number of male employees has increased by seven.

Men have historically out-numbered women on the county’s payroll. As of September, there were 154 men employed by the county and 112 women.

Overall, the county has cut its work force from 282 employees to 266 in the wake of the nation’s financial collapse. Many of those cuts were made by not filling staff positions which were vacated.

Commissioner Michael Largent said the trend is likely due to the types of positions that have been cut in the county’s financial crunch.

“A lot of our decisions have come down to public safety versus public service,” he said. “Unfortunately, I guess, that’s had more of an impact on women than men.”

Most of the cuts have come in the courthouse and health departments. Kelli Campbell, the county’s human resources director, said those positions are primarily staffed by women.

Campbell added some positions were grant funded. When those grants went away, so did the employees.

Campbell stressed gender, as is stated in county policy and federal regulations, can not be used by managers when making decisions to hire or fire.

Commissioner Greg Partch pointed to the dismantling of the county’s finance department as a contribution to the number of female layoffs.

The department was staffed by four women whose jobs have all been eliminated. Finance Director Bev Divine was fired June 1, and Sharron Cunningham, assistant director, resigned two days later.

The two remaining employees, both female, were assigned to positions in other departments within the county’s government.

Traditionally male jobs, like those in the road department or the sheriff’s office, have not seen the same cuts.

The road department derives its funding from sources separate from the current expense fund.