California's financial troubles have prompted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to start talking about state layoffs.

But slicing the state payroll takes far more than the flick of a pen.

At a Los Angeles event last week, Schwarzenegger said the state has to look at all areas of government to close the $11.2 billion funding gap this fiscal year.

"I think the longer we wait the more we will have to lay off people from government," he said in response to a question about the state's financial health. "And I think because of the delay now, we are almost, I think, forced – as a matter of fact, we are going to have a meeting … about that, how many people we need now to lay off in order to make ends meet."

Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor met last week with advisers about cutting state jobs and other cost-saving measures.

McLear declined to discuss the details, but, he said, "what I can tell you is that the budget shortfall is so serious that we are preparing for more deep cuts."

Unlike Schwarzenegger's recent proposal to furlough state workers one day each month, a governor can impose layoffs without getting state worker unions or the Legislature to go along.

But the process from ordering job cuts to actually eliminating them can take months.

Generally, state workers with the least service time are the first to go. Some workers whose jobs are eliminated can take lower-level positions by bumping employees with less seniority.

The state gives workers 120-day "surplus" notices that their jobs may be eliminated. Depending on the terms of labor contracts, unions get a 30- or 60-day heads-up on which jobs could take a hit.

Individual employees get 30 days' notice before they're dismissed. The notification periods can overlap.

Labor organizations say they are perplexed by the governor's remark about layoffs.

"Putting all this stuff in the paper and offering sound bites doesn't solve the problem," said Yvonne Walker, president of Service Employees International Union Local 1000. The local represents about 95,000 state employees.

"There are going to have to be cuts. We're going to have to raise taxes. We need to go after federal money," Walker said. "But let's sit down and see how we can work this out."

Olin King, president of the Association of California State Supervisors, called cutting state jobs a "draconian remedy" that would put a disproportionate burden on civil servants.

"It's possible that the governor is posturing," King said. "But he might be quite serious about it. Either way, it's not a prudent way to deal with a crisis that affects all Californians, not just state workers."

State worker Sue Rasberry said she and her co-workers in the agency where she is an office technician are "definitely concerned" about the layoff talk. She also wondered about whether any savings realized through job cuts would be offset by higher unemployment and a decline in consumer spending.

"Don't just walk us off the end of a gangplank and then realize you actually needed us to help row the boat," Rasberry said. "With no income, I won't be buying things. And is laying off employees really a viable solution when you think about the impact of all those unemployment payments and the impact of higher unemployment in California?"

About 112,000 state workers are employed in the Sacramento region, roughly 10 percent of the work force. According to the Service Employees International Union, state workers put more than $15 million every day into the region's economy.

Five years ago, another budget crisis proved how challenging it is to rein in California's complex bureaucracy. In 2003, then-Gov. Gray Davis ordered 20,000 vacant state positions slashed when budget troubles hit.

Just a few months after he issued that mandate, half of the 16,000 jobs immediately eliminated by the order were restored because they were considered essential.

A Davis spokeswoman noted at the time: "It's one thing to talk about reducing government as a monolithic whole. But when you get down to the level of talking about specific jobs and the people who fill them, it gets more difficult."

Call The Bee's Jon Ortiz, (916) 321-1043. Read his blog, The State Worker, at sacbee.com/blogs.