Up To $1000 To Workers Who Stay On Job... But Will That Be Enough?

In an effort to combat an employee attrition rate close to 25 percent as the summer travel seasons draws near, the Transportation Security Administration is offering its screeners up to $1000 in bonus pay in order to convince them to stay on the job.

Associate TSA Administrator Gale Rossides told USA Today the bonus program -- which will cost $20 million -- is intended to prevent a screener shortage during peak travel months.

Here's how it works: screeners who have been on the job at least one year -- and are thus less likely to leave -- will be paid $500 on May 11. Screeners who have been with the TSA less than one year will get their $500 bonuses after they've worked through the summer. And if a screener happens to work at a "hard-to-hire" airport -- one that has trouble filling vacancies -- that's another $500 in their pocket.

"We understand the $500 may not be as much as some people want, but it is a commitment on our part to try to begin to invest in the workforce," Rossides said.

While extra money in pocket is seldom a bad thing, some screeners -- whose pay ranges from just over $23,500 to $44,500 per year, based on experience and location -- questioned the size of the TSA's commitment.

The $500 bonus "isn't going to retain anybody," said Kimberly Kraynak, a $39,000-a-year screener at Pittsburgh International Airport. She called the amount the TSA is offering "a joke."

"What will $500 mean? I could probably take a weekend off somewhere and de-stress a little," added Boston screener A.J. Castilla, who makes $37,064.

The TSA has been concerned about screener turnover rates -- which now run as high as 24.5 percent -- for several years. In a letter to TSA chief Kip Hawley dated April 12, administrators at LAX warned they were losing 40 to 50 screeners a month -- which could lead to a shortage of 300 screeners by August. Approximately 2,000 screeners work at the airport.

The resulting long checkpoint lines could present a tempting terrorist target, LAX executive director Lydia Kennard and chairman Steven Holt wrote.

Hawley replied in an April 20 newsletter that the longer TSA screeners stay on the job, "the higher the performance of their security duties will be."

Hiring and training a new screener costs the TSA $12,000, according to USA Today.

FMI: www.tsa.gov