Top managers on mega-MTA projects — who haven’t had raises in four years — are bolting at an alarmingly high rate, leaving crucial positions vacant and prompting concern from federal regulators.
The Federal Transit Administration is so disturbed by the high turnover that in two separate reports, they’ve cautioned the cash-strapped agency to quickly bring in experienced managers to fill current and future vacancies on such massive projects as the Second Avenue Subway, according to government reports obtained by The Post.
But that likely will be easier said than done. Unlike unionized workers — whose contracts ensure they get annual cost-of-living increases — members of MTA management haven’t had a salary hike in four years.
“There are obviously issues with MTA employees and staffing levels and pay scales,” said MTA board member Mitch Pally, who is on the committee that monitors the agency’s big-ticket projects.
“I can assure you that management doesn’t make enough money, especially for people who are experienced,” he said. “These are complicated jobs.”
MTA Chairman Jay Walder — who is leaving the agency himself next month for a higher-paying gig as head of the Hong Kong subway system — is concerned about the lack of pay hikes for top brass, Pally said.
The FTA, which monitors all of the MTA’s federally funded projects, is also taking serious note.
Federal regulators lamented the “substantial turnover” among contract and MTA staff managers over the past year in their monthly report on the Second Avenue Subway.
The agency “remains concerned that the continued staff shortage may impair proper functioning of the project quality processes,” the FTA said in another report, which suggests they hire more managers.
In one area of quality management on the Second Avenue Subway, two of the MTA’s three agency consultants are new. Another outside consulting position in the same division also is vacant, according to the report.
A Second Avenue Subway staff manager in charge of reviewing contractor work plans and performing audits abruptly quit in June.