The Pittsburgh Fire Bureau is working to boost recruitment efforts, particularly for women, according to Chief Darryl Jones.
A performance audit released this week by City Controller Michael Lamb found that last year fewer than 1% of the bureau’s roughly 700 firefighters were women. The national average was around 5%, according to the 2020 National Fire Protection Association.
Lamb said firefighters are the only full-time city employees without paid parental leave, which the controller said could hinder efforts to hire and retain firefighters.
“Firefighters, like all full-time city employees, absolutely must be given access to paid family leave,” Lamb said. “The city of Pittsburgh must be a fair and equitable employer, and by denying firefighters a family leave benefit, we are acting neither fairly nor equitably.”