Scoop: Denver's layoffs hit women and mid-career staff hardest
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Denver laid off roughly 170 city employees this summer — a fraction of its workforce but one that disproportionately affected women and early- to mid-career professionals, according to records obtained by Axios Denver.
Why it matters: The documents provided by the mayor's office, released after Axios Denver filed a records request, offer the clearest look yet at who was impacted. Until now, Mayor Mike Johnston's administration hadn't detailed which demographic groups bore the brunt of the job cuts.
The big picture: The layoffs, along with ongoing furloughs and more than 600 other eliminated positions, are part of Johnston's push to plug a $200 million budget hole next year.
- But they come at a cost — slicing core city services that residents rely on, from trash pickup to zoning, permitting and inspections.
By the numbers: Women made up 57% of those let go, city records show, despite accounting for 52% of the municipal workforce.
- The layoffs hit employees with 6 months to 10 years of service hardest — accounting for nearly 75% of all cuts, although they make up 56% of city staff.
- About 12% were long-timers with 15-plus years on the job.
- The ages of impacted employees ranged from their mid-20s to early 70s, with most workers cut in their 30s and 40s.
Zoom in: City records also show layoffs fell unevenly across racial lines.
- White (42%) and Latino (26%) employees were laid off at lower rates than their overall citywide shares (49% and 31%, respectively), while Black employees (10%) were slightly overrepresented.
Zoom out: The cuts hit a cross-section of city functions — from financial managers, victim advocates and city planners to IT architects, environmental health specialists and inspectors.
Between the lines: City officials declined to link job titles to specific agencies, citing employee privacy — a decision that obscures how exactly the cuts will affect services.
Yes, but: Records show the transportation department saw the biggest loss, shedding 30 staffers. Other hard-hit agencies include Community Planning and Development (18), Public Health and Environment (15) and the City Attorney's Office (11).
The bottom line: The layoffs accounted for less than 3% of Denver's general fund workforce, but they gutted some of the city's most specialized roles — losses that could slash services and increase delays at a time when the city is already stretched thin.