City looking to “redeploy” as many staff as possible for next three months

The city of Saskatoon is “actively looking to redeploy” as many of its staff as possible, as spring and summer programs approach.

City manager Jeff Jorgenson spoke about the changes Tuesday, saying more will come out in “around a week from now.”

The city is expecting the redeployment to be in place for, at least, the next three months amid the COVID-19 global pandemic.

“When we look at the spring and summer programs, typically they rely heavily on callback of staff, and it’s just a different world. We’re not going to be performing the same amount of work, we’re not going to be calling back the same numbers of people, or hiring the same numbers of people,” Jorgenson said during a media conference Tuesday.

Jorgenson said they’ve been actively working on the plan for the past week and a half, with each division looking into redeployment for the past “number of weeks.”

The city has focused on getting as many of its staff working from home as possible but admits it faces challenges in doing so.

With many core services in need of on-site workers, the city also said increased safety precautions are in place for those in work environments.

The city described its current core services such as water, sewer and fire protection as “in great shape.”