Peter Callstrom, CEO for the San Diego Workforce Partnership, conducted an organizational shakeup Jan. 7, cutting eight positions from the budget of the nonprofit that oversees job training programs throughout San Diego County.
“We took a hard look at how we’re structured and determined that we needed to be more efficient,” said Callstrom, who took the position in July after former CEO Mark Cafferty took over as CEO at the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp.
The cuts affected a range of jobs from a copy clerk to two directorship positions, including Chief Operating Officer Nathaniel Buggs, who had been with the organization for 19 years and was paid $125,000.
Callstrom said the job cuts will result in about $700,000 in savings annually that can be used to fund the groups that SDWP contracts with to provide various job training services.
Alan Kneale, SDWP’s chairman of the board, said, “Our economic realities compel us to make challenging and proactive decisions in order to best invest in helping the maximum number of job seekers across our region.”
SDWP’s current fiscal budget is $37.7 million, most of which is deployed to about 25 partner organizations that provide the training.
Several years ago, when SDWP obtained additional federal stimulus dollars, its budget was in excess of $40 million and it had a staff of about 75, Callstrom said.
— Mike Allen
