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To attract younger workers, the city of Philadelphia may offer employees new benefits — for their pets

A city spokesperson said municipal employees would pay for the benefit entirely and it wouldn't cost the city taxpayer dollars.

An East Falls man waits in line with his dog Teddy, 5, at the Southeast Asian Market in FDR Park on May, 25. City employees could pay for pet insurance in a Parker administration proposal to attract more young employees.
An East Falls man waits in line with his dog Teddy, 5, at the Southeast Asian Market in FDR Park on May, 25. City employees could pay for pet insurance in a Parker administration proposal to attract more young employees.Read moreTyger Williams / Staff Photographer
    by Anna Orso
    Published 

As the city of Philadelphia tries to attract workers to plug a yearslong staffing shortage, it’s exploring offering new benefits to municipal employees and members of their families — including those with four legs.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration is considering administering pet insurance to thousands of city workers who’d want to opt in next year, one of a handful of perks the city is exploring in hopes of attracting more millennial and Gen Z job applicants

Joe Grace, a spokesperson for the Parker administration, said the benefit would initially be offered only to workers who aren’t represented by a union and the employees themselves would pay for coverage, meaning there would be no direct cost to the city.

He said the administration is still “very early in our background discovery operations and nothing has been approved yet.”

“We see this as an important benefit in that many of our employees have pets,” Grace said, citing studies that show pet ownership is highest among millennials (born 1981 to 1996) and Gen Z (1997 to 2012). “As the city looks to become an employer of choice, we want to support our employees total health and wellness, including those fur-babies too.”

The city is in the process of considering contract proposals from pet insurance companies. In a public request for proposals, the administration indicated it intends to offer the new benefit beginning early next year.

Parker’s administration announced several other new perks for employees earlier this year after the mayor mandated all employees return to in-office and on-site work full time. The benefits include longer parental leave for employees and emergency care offerings for their children or elderly family members.

» READ MORE: Nearly a quarter of Philly city jobs are still vacant, but Parker’s team believes it’s ‘turning a corner’

Those expanded perks would be available to about 6,000 employees who aren’t represented by municipal unions. Two of the largest city worker unions — District Councils 33 and 47 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — are in the midst of contract negotiations with the Parker administration, and any change in benefits is likely to come as a result of a contract deal.

Leaders of DC 33 and 47 have vocally opposed Parker’s return-to-office mandate, arguing that it will lead to a wave of resignations and early retirements amid an already stressed staffing situation. About 20% of city employees were working some form of a hybrid schedule before returning full-time in July.

About 5,100 city jobs accounting for about 20% of the workforce were vacant as of April, according to the most recently available data.