City of Lethbridge set to temporarily layoff additional 30 employees in May

Global News has made a correction to a stat that was originally published in this story

On Monday the City of Lethbridge announced 30 additional temporary layoffs will occur in the month of May as many facilities remain closed.

That brings the total number of city layoffs related to the pandemic to 301, which translates to about 16 per cent of the municipality’s work force.

According to the city, the reductions are primarily related to the delivery of recreation and cultural services.

The provincial government recently announced a relaunch strategy, however opening dates for facilities such as pools, gyms and arenas like the Enmax Centre are tentative at this time.

The success rate of the first few stages will determine when the implementation of Stage 3 can commence, which involves the opening of recreational facilities operated by the city.

The Alberta government has indicated these these types of facilities will reopen with restrictions put in place, such as physical distancing and limitations on capacity.

Officials add that once the city is given approval to reopen more facilities, they will time to reprogram and prepare these areas to meet public health orders before a full workforce is reintroduced.

“As we continue in these unprecedented times, we are having to make some extremely difficult decisions in regards to temporarily reducing our workforce,” city manager Jody Meli said.

“I can’t thank all those involved enough for their professionalism and understanding. As soon as we are able to open our facilities and get our services back on track, we intend on bringing our employees back to work,” she said.

The city’s manager of resources, Jason Elliott, said they will continue to work with employees in the coming weeks to identify redeployment opportunities.

“So, if there are any areas in say parks for example, where we could redeploy staff into those types of positions, we’re certainly looking into doing that,” Elliott said.