Utah's dominant force in matters spiritual and cultural also is the state's largest employer.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an estimated 33,355 people on its payroll in Utah. Thousands of workers range from janitors and mailroom clerks to investment and financial chieftains overseeing annual revenues estimated by outside researchers at about $6 billion, mostly from member tithing.
And, like countless employers in these hard economic times, the LDS Church is scaling back its work force.
Faced with falling investment income, and perhaps feeling the effects of lower tithing and an expensive temple-building program, the LDS Church recently offered voluntary early retirements, effective for many employees this week. About 600 of nearly 1,000 eligible employees opted to take advantage of the voluntary exit, and 40 percent of the vacated positions will not be filled.
Hard financial numbers on the 11-million member faith or its employees are difficult to come by. The church refused to provide specifics or grant a requested interview with any financial officer or confirm or contest The Salt Lake Tribune's calculations.
Based on employment ranges obtained piecemeal from a Web site operated by Utah's Workforce Services Department, The Tribune estimates the LDS Church tops the state's next biggest employer -- state government -- by more than 10,000 employees, or 33,355 compared to 22,500. Figures show about 29,140 employees working directly for the church in Utah, as distinct from the more than 4,215 working at its for-profit businesses.
The overwhelming majority of employees are required to be church members in good standing, who possess or are eligible for an LDS temple recommend from their local congregation leaders. The LDS employment Web site advises that prospective workers must possess, in addition to skills and motivation, a "desire to help build the Lord's kingdom."
As a nonprofit religious organization, the state's largest employer is exempt from unemployment insurance requirements and anti-discrimin- ation laws. Applicants are informed a church job is a "sacred responsibility" and failure to maintain good standing in the faith is grounds for firing.
The total LDS Church employment estimated here includes its flagship education institution, Brigham Young University. The Provo-based school has a faculty and staff of 18,000, enough to qualify it alone as the state's third-largest employer, tied with the University of Utah.
Only state government and the nonprofit health care giant Intermountain Health Care are larger. IHC, with $2.6 billion in revenue, was owned and operated by the church until 1975.
The state figures show that about 3,760 employees work in the church's 26-story worldwide headquarters building in downtown Salt Lake City. Another roughly 400 staff members are employed on Temple Square and at the Administration Building.
After BYU, LDS seminaries and institutes of religion appear to be the largest source of church employment in the state, with an estimated 2,035 instructors and staff.
The organization also employs a virtual army of custodians, something in the neighborhood of 1,500 to polish and maintain its thousands of meetinghouses and facilities throughout the state, as well as approximately 75 in the headquarters building. (The church has recently scaled back its use of custodians in ward houses, stake buildings and even the Conference Center, relying instead on volunteers.)
Employment records even give a peek into some of the church's most private corners: 250 people are employed on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, 75 at the LDS temple in Provo and around 20 at the Ogden Temple. Most of the work performed at these sacred sites, off-limits to all but church members in good standing, is done by volunteers.
Another note of interest is the estimated 75 employees employed in the church's catastrophe-proof vault carved into the granite mountainside on the north side of Little Cottonwood Canyon southeast of Salt Lake City. The facility is used to store billions of microfilmed family history and other records.
For-profit businesses operated by the church in Utah are led by Deseret Industries. An estimated 1,705 employees are engaged in collecting, refurbishing and reselling second-hand furniture, appliances, clothes and other merchandise. Deseret Industries provides training to hundreds of disabled individuals, with the goal of preparing trainees for and placing them in other private-sector jobs.
Deseret Book weighs in as the No. 2 LDS for-profit employer in Utah, with an estimated 655 staffers spread throughout its 17 stores and west Salt Lake City warehouse. Other big business payrolls of the church in Utah include Deseret Mutual (medical insurance), Zion Securities (real estate), Beneficial Life (insurance), KSL TV and the Deseret News.
Downsizing Effects: The release of 600 employees represents a small but significant 2 percent reduction in LDS Church employment in Utah.
Shrinking the beefy church payrolls may be a reflection of LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley's admonition to "do less with less," according to personnel documents and employee interviews.
It may also be a response to the global recession, which has almost certainly suppressed church investment income and probably caused lower-than-projected tithing revenues.
"People are saying the church's investments have gone down," said a church employee who asked not to be identified, fearing it could jeopardize his career. "There might also be a downturn in tithing as more people are out of work."
Church spokesman Dale Bills provided few details about what motivated the early retirement offers.
"Like many large organizations attempting to meet the challenges of a difficult economy, the church is reviewing a number of options to better manage overall costs, including numbers of employees," said Bills. "Since church financial resources come largely from the tithes and offerings of members, church leaders regard these funds as sacred and strive always to be wise and careful in how resources are managed."
Part of the reasons for the frugality could be the expenditures associated with the unprecedented temple-building blitz launched since Hinckley took the helm in 1995. The church has more than doubled its temples worldwide, going from 50 to 114, and another 15 are in the planning or construction phase. At an estimated average cost of $10 million apiece (based on previously published calculations not confirmed by the church), the construction spree has cost $640 million, with another $150 million expected in the next few years.
The recently built LDS Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City also had a hefty price tag, topping $200 million by some estimates.
Whatever the reasons, the cutbacks can save the church money but how much is difficult to calculate.
A similar early retirement program was instituted by the state 15 years ago, in the middle of the last recession, when budget cuts and tax increases were necessary to balance the budget. The Bangerter administration initiative was projected to result in savings of approximately $5.6 million from the departure of 631 employees. State officials now say while some immediate savings were realized, they eventually evaporated as retirement costs climbed and steady growth in state jobs resumed.
The church's incentive-based program allows those under the normal retirement age of 65 to retire with full benefits if they have enough years of service. A lump-sum payment and extended medical benefits also were offered, leading to its description by some as the "golden hand- shake."
Participation in the program was voluntary and roughly 400 eligible employees declined their option. One of those was Bills' boss, Managing Director of Public Affairs Bruce Olson.
Those heading out the door include some of the faith's most experienced and senior staffers, with an average 17 years in church employment and an average age of 66.
"They were really fair to people," said 62-year-old Dale Heaps, senior conservator restoring old books and documents, who retired Friday. "They offered free insurance for a year and that helps. That gets me to 64 so I only have to pay for one year before I can get Medicare. I was thinking about retirement even before they announced the package."
A member of an LDS bishopric, Heaps said he and his wife are planning to put in their papers for a mission in the next few years. A personnel report indicates that many retiring employees "have received, or soon will receive, mission calls. . . . These retirees represent a great resource of talent and skills."
One recent retiree, who apparently had enough years of service to leave without any early retirement incentive, was Ronald Knighton, managing director of the church's Curriculum Department.
But most of the hundreds of retirees -- even individuals in powerful management positions -- are unknown outside their own internal church circles. Many are being replaced by unpaid volunteers.
Nearly every department in the church headquarters has church missionaries providing free work for the organization.
Heaps speculated the church could well save money from the combination of greater reliance on such volunteers and the early retirement program.
"The new people they bring in will not be paid the same as the ones who are going out. There are probably jobs that have become less significant as time goes on," he said. "A lot of people feel that like a lot of corporations they are trying to cut back and get rid of deadwood."