Well, this doesn't suck at all...

[Ashaela]

At full staff, we have 10 people on the phones and processing most of the paperwork. That was in November.

December: our sister department hires away one of my guys.
Remaining headcount: 9

January: one leaves for the private sector.
Remaining headcount: 8

February: one quits with two days notice
one gets fired
two get hired away by our sister department
Remaining headcount: 4

We now have 4 of 10 people required to keep the place running at basic levels.

And March starts our busy time of year which usually lasts through mid-July.

And the applications we process are at an all time ridiculous high of 5000+.

Yay.

[It shouldn't]

Time to start trolling for employees at the sister department.

[Ashaela]

Right?

Actually, we just got approved yesterday to offer overtime to any staff in any department, who are interested in processing paperwork. So we kinda do get to steal them back, at least for a little while.

I also found out first thing this morning that one of my remaining 4 people at that level is retiring at the end of April, and we are so screwed. She's been here longer than me, she's one of only two people in the whole department that I didn't hire and train. And she processes like a speed demon.

So that'll leave me with one person who's been here about 10 months, 2 just barely out of training, and 3 brand newbies who will start in two weeks, and 4 still-empty positions.