Commissioners flag workforce risk as many employees near retirement; IT spending noted

Commissioners used part of the Kansas Corporation Commission’s Jan. 15 organizational meeting to review internal human resources and information technology reports for 2025.

On the HR memo, Commissioner Keane said the commission should be alert to the number of employees who are retirement-eligible and emphasized the potential loss of institutional experience, especially within the conservation division. "We're potentially replacing a lot of experience," Keane said, urging proactive multi-year recruitment and succession planning.

Chair Andrew French and other commissioners acknowledged the concern and said succession planning and continued recruitment efforts will be priorities. The meeting record does not include numeric counts of retirement-eligible staff; the HR memo in the meeting packet was referenced as containing those details.

On IT, Chair French reviewed the 2025 annual IT summary and said capital spending was atypically high because of investment in a new document management system; he said those costs are expected to decline in coming years. He also noted that some IT services are transitioning to the Office of Information Technology Services (OITS), which could affect future spending and service arrangements.

Both the HR and IT items were review-only in this meeting; no formal motions or policy actions were recorded. The commission completed the organizational business and adjourned.