In San Francisco, it seems, everything is booming.
If you needed even more evidence of this, take a look at how a recent construction boom has lead to a local government hiring spree.
KQED has the story of how 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.”
The hiring spree is giving trickle-down economics a whole new meaning.
The need for more inspectors is increased by the city’s high earthquake risk, city officials say.
“San Francisco happens to be in one of the world’s highest at-risk seismic zones,” DBI Spokesman William Strawn told. “Our building codes are a whole lot more strict than just about any place else in the world. We keep adding people because the demand for these building projects, especially over the last couple of years, has been pretty intense.”