T’s runaway recruiting train: $500G spent to fill just 10 jobs
The MBTA spent nearly $500,000 on recruiting and search firms last year to help fill just 10 jobs — at an average of about $50,000 per gig — according to T officials, who say they hope a new fund designed to accept private donations can help pay for, and accelerate, its recruitment efforts.
The total $476,000 bill from last fiscal year includes the $90,000 the cashstrapped agency spent on its search for a new general manager before Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack ultimately picked Luis Ramirez, a former General Electric and Siemens executive with no transit background.
Most of the costs were geared toward “specialty” roles inside the T’s operations, Pollack said. They also help pay firms to cover costs of flying in candidates for interviews, according to officials in the T’s human relations department.
Officials detailed the costs as part of a presentation on its still-forming Recruitment, Retention and Training Fund, a new program pitched last year by business leaders at the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership as a vehicle to funnel private donations into the agency.
The fund has yet to accept any donations, said Joe Pesaturo, a T spokesman. John Fish, the CEO of Suffolk Construction, told the Herald earlier this year that he hopes the fund can generate $500,000 immediately to help pay for recruiting costs at the T.
T officials pitched the fund’s potential as it highlighted a number of positions they’re seeking to fill on the Green Line Extension project, in senior leadership and helping deliver on its capital projects. The fund also could help cover signing bonuses, which have historically cost between $20,000 and $30,000.
“We think this partnership will allow us to recruit more aggressively,” Jessie Saintcyr, MassDOT’s assistant secretary of human resources, told the T’s Fiscal and Management Control Board.
The T is also starting its search for a new chief customer experience officer, marking what could be the first of several high-profile positions Ramirez has been tasked to fill since he took over earlier this month. First, the T will vet which candidates apply to the publicly advertised position before deciding whether to again engage an outside recruiting firm, Pesaturo said.
“We’re going to be working with the Competitive Partnership to help raise money,” Pollack said. “Hopefully their members will step up to the plate and will be able to fund as many of the initiatives as ... possible.”