ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the relative number of staff in the public and private sectors and at different levels of the public sector. It provides an overview of the functions of human resources management (HRM) staff in cities, also reviews relevant court cases, and presents performance measures for personnel management. One key area in which urban HRM is different from other forms of public and certainly private sector management is the extent to which labor relations and collective bargaining are major dimensions. The discussion of the numbers of employers and employees provides some context for the subsequent assessment of HRM processes and challenges. The urban public workforce is public sector employees and contractors who work for governments in urban areas. As city government hiring and selection moved to ensuring that the most qualified were selected, the reformers insisted that the civil service is administered by a neutral, non-partisan Civil Service Commission.
