San Francisco’s Building Boom Sparks Hiring Spree by City, State Agencies

http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/01/12/san-franciscos-building-boom-leads-to-local-government-hiring-spree

Three San Francisco government departments and the local office for a state agency are scrambling to hire staff to keep up with the city’s steady increase in construction projects.

In recent years, several thousand buildings have been put up or substantially renovated throughout the city, leading San Francisco’s Planning Department, Department of Building Inspection and Fire Department along with California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, to fill positions, add jobs and recruit talent.

Nowhere is busier than the Department of Building Inspection. In the 2012-13 fiscal year, the 12 months through June 30, 2013, the agency issued a record 61,000 permits for projects that ranged from new housing and office developments to plumbing and electrical upgrades. That number jumped to 65,000 in 2013-14 and is expected to hit 80,000 for the current fiscal year.

It is a far cry from how things looked during the economic downturn when construction growth dropped in San Francisco and DBI laid off 30 percent of its staff then.