I just left working for the city and I will tell you there is a mass exodus in all city agencies right now. Those who are eligible to retire are doing so a lot earlier and those who are young and motivated are not staying long. What's left are a bunch of underqualified political hires with fancy titles overseeing staff who could care less.

Everyone I know who has left, including myself, did so with hybrid or remote work environments being a top priority. The city already had staffing issues before the pandemic. So if companies like Goldman and Google are having a hard time getting staff back in person then imagine how hard it is to get underpaid public employees to do the same. Companies are even offering pay and perk incentives to go back in person.

NYC has a very competitive job market meaning workers have a lot more options here and making it hard for the city to compete in that type of environment. Think about how many private companies would love a former DOT staffer on their team...