The Human Resources Department for the Municipality of Anchorage has experienced a striking level of staff turnover over the past year, losing 18 employees since Mayor Suzanne LaFrance took office in July 2024.
At the time LaFrance assumed office, the department had 41 employees. As of July 2025, only 36 positions are filled, with multiple vacancies still open. With 18 people having left in the past year, it’s a 44% departure rate. 18 separations over a 12-month period with an average headcount of 36 represents a 50% annual turnover rate.
That’s more than three times the national average turnover rate for HR professionals, which was approximately 15%, according to a 2022 LinkedIn analysis, making Anchorage’s HR turnover exceptionally high.
While turnover in any government agency is not uncommon during a transition in leadership, the scale of departure in the HR department stands out and raises operational concerns, especially in a department responsible for hiring, employee relations, compliance, and benefits administration for the entire municipality, which operates government services for 40% of the Alaska population. The HR workers who departed have over 40 years of combined institutional memory and expertise.
Must Read Alaska obtained this information through a public records request and acknowledges that the HR Department was responsive to the request. If readers have information that would explain why this massive departure from the Human Resources Department has occurred, they may leave notes in the comment section.
Working for patently angry leadership does tend towards mutiny.
Let me guess. More pay and benefits to attract people who enjoy being abused.
I’d like to know why they have 41 employees in HR. Seems a bit steep to me.
Incompetence has a price.
The ringmaster Chris Constant is their real boss as every time “Franny” got into a pickle she always looked to him as to what to do and say during previous meetings.
Based on his responses to opposition of their tyranny by telling them to F–K off was probably a major factor in departing the hell hole.
My guess is if they ran enough decent people off they could find enough cronies to mold and groom them into obedient serfs that bow and jump on command to hire DEI replacements for the experienced crew.
Kamala Harris had the same issues with her staff at the white house.
I am sure there is similar environment under both ring leaders.
Mutiny? I think you meant desertion!
The La France coterie of tyrant communists fears the true mutiny that lurks just below the surface of every “public comments” time — which is why they isolate themselves as much as possible from “the masses”, that ethereal icon that communists are always claiming to serve.
Let me guess, Mayor Karen is a toxic boss??
Wellll, considering how dysfunctional the Bronson/Tshibaka team was (e.g. Gerace and inability to staff key city agencies, like the prosecutor’s office), is comes to no sensible person’s surprise that there would be some housecleaning in this department. Whatever the turnover, it’s still at 90% of where it was when LeFrance took over. This article is pretty much a nothingburger….
and alaska continues its spiraling decline down the toilet.
People usually quit their bosses before they quit their jobs.
” ….. the Dept had 41 positions ….. (now) only 36 positions are filled”
Good.
Lay off a couple of more, I’m sure there’s still some dead wood on payroll.