The search for a new general manager at the MBTA is over, but the staffing crisis is not. There are still hundreds of open positions at the troubled transit agency and advocates say recruiting for those jobs could be one of the biggest challenges for the new boss.
Minutes after introducing himself as the new head of the MBTA Monday, Phillip Eng was making a plea for others to join him.
“Anyone who might be considering a job at the MBTA, I invite you to join us. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime, generational opportunity,” Eng said.
A lot of the vacancies at the MBTA are key positions, including two assistant general managers. There are also openings for more than 300 bus operators and roughly 10 openings with the word safety in the job title. Safety is a priority as the agency continues to respond to a federal investigation that found serious safety hazards.
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“Look, the MBTA is a mess. People don’t want to go work for something that’s a mess,” Congressman Seth Moulton said.
Moulton sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and wrote up a three-page memo outlining his vision for the MBTA’s next chapter. He said resolving staffing issues has to be one of Eng’s first priorities.
“He needs to clean house no question. There’s a lot of good people at the T, but we wouldn’t be in this situation if there weren’t bad people at the T. He has to hire people, but he has to make some targeted firings as well,” Moulton said.
Eng has yet to say if he plans to clean house or not, but he did say the MBTA has plans for more aggressive recruiting. They are hosting another job fair at the Jubilee Christian Church in Mattapan on April 15, five days after Eng officially starts his new role as general manager.
