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Philadelphia Housing Authority to Lay Off Nearly 300 and Shift Maintenance to Contractors in 2026

Leaders say unusually high maintenance costs require a move to contracting to free resources for housing.

Overview

  • The agency will reduce its roughly 1,200-person staff by about 20%, with nearly 300 layoffs beginning in mid-January 2026 and a second round next summer.
  • About 260 jobs will be cut in the first wave, with 93 workers reclassified into maintenance aide, laborer, or painter roles, followed by roughly 116 additional cuts next summer.
  • PHA will stop directly employing most union maintenance trades and instead contract for repairs, while keeping building trades roles on new construction and some discrete jobs.
  • Officials project approximately $24 million in annual savings and cite per-unit maintenance costs of about $15,500 under current work rules as the central driver.
  • The restructuring is tied to a $6.3 billion plan to add 7,000 homes and rehab 13,000 existing units, with trades leaders engaged and some unions still reviewing the policy.