The City of Springfield said its Workforce Development Division is facing a potential phased reduction of up to 11 positions. That’s due to delays in federal appropriations, which are disrupting the release of new funding opportunities, according to city officials.
The division employs 33.5 full-time employees at the Missouri Job Center on N. Campbell. It currently administers more than $23 million in federal grants that support workforce training and economic mobility programs. Those include Apprenticeship Building America, Good Jobs Challenge and Green for Greene.
According to the city, legislative delays in fiscal year 2025-2026 federal appropriations have stalled the release of new discretionary grants. The $3 million Apprenticeship Building America and the $17.5 million Good Jobs Challenge grants, it said, will expire before new awards can be applied for and secured, which creates an operational funding gap.
Because of that, the Workforce Development division may face a phased reduction in staffing of up to six employees by July 1 and up to an additional five employees by October 1. Staff were told about the cuts Friday morning.
According to the city, Workforce Development is working with the Human Resources Department to offer affected employees options with the City, but layoff notices may be required.
The City said Workforce Development is pursuing grant extensions and new initiatives to restore long-term sustainability. Missouri Job Center services will continue.
“Like many federally supported programs and agencies, we are having to deal with the repercussions of what’s been happening on the national level,” said Amanda Ohlensehlen, director of Economic Vitality & Workforce for the City of Springfield in a press release. “For the Workforce Development division, the year 2025 was planned as a sustainability year to pursue replacement funding. However, a January 2025 federal funding freeze and extended FY26 federal budget negotiations delayed the release of new grant opportunities. The result was an unforeseeable operational disruption to federal grants that had a lasting impact on the release of potential funding.”
