Job stability. Competitive pay. Good benefits and retirement package. Strong union protection. It wasn’t that long ago that county jobs were considered plum positions, subject to intense competition and even political favoritism.
Not anymore. Just like the private sector, Hawaii County is having a heck of a time trying to recruit and retain good candidates, with almost a quarter of positions unfilled.
“We keep asking ourselves where is everybody,” county Human Resources Director Waylen Leopoldino said. “Everywhere you go, there’s a lot of help wanted signs and business are reducing their hours because of staffing. We’re feeling it tremendously here. … We’re in a recruitment crisis.”
In September, Hawaii Island’s unemployment rate was just 3.5%.
“It’s hard to find employees right now but we’re coming off an international crisis, a global crisis ,and yet there’s no one to work,” noted Puna Councilman Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder, a local business owner. “I’m having a hard time grasping what is really going on right now.”
Leopoldino estimated the county’s position vacancy rate is about 22%, with 65 classes of positions under constant recruitment. The number of actual position vacancies is higher. For example, the class of Clerk III could have 10 vacancies in that class alone, he said.
“We are a service kind of organization and we need people to deliver these critical government services,” said Puna Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz, commiserating with Leopoldino.
It’s unclear what effect the vacancies are having on the delivery of county services or the use of overtime. A call Thursday to Managing Director Lee Lord was not returned, and a followup email Friday to a county spokesman did not produce a response by press-time Saturday.
In addition to the existing vacancies, the county has over the past several years been adding positions, with 88 new positions just added for the fiscal year that began July 1.
The County Council last week unanimously approved a new position in the county’s Human Resources Department, a program specialist for the Recruitment and Examinations Division. The new position will free up the HR manager to spend more time actively recruiting, through increasing the use of social media for recruitment, working with high schools and colleges and increasing outreach within the community, Leopoldino said.
A new campaign is in the works to tap into priorities of the younger workforce, for whom retirement benefits might not be the draw they were to past generations. Many of those workers want to be of service to others, so the county plans to emphasize that aspect of government service in its newest recruitment campaign.
“Our position is we provide a service to the community, so we’re working on rebranding ourselves — our Big Island, our community,” he said.
The HR Department itself also needs to fill some positions i order to make for a smoother flow, Leopoldino acknowledged, responding to questions from Hilo Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy, who said she’s hearing from constituents who’ve put in applications but haven’t heard back.
“We’re gonna pack the pipe with all the applicants but we’re still at a choke or pinch point in the screening process,” she said. “A number of individuals I know who have applied but there has been quite a stall as far as them even knowing if they’re kind of in process.”
“I jokingly told them you was applying for one building permit or a job at the county,” she added, referring to the Building Department’s large backlog of permit applications.
A 2017 audit into county hiring practices by former Auditor Bonnie Nims warned that county practices contributed to public complaints of unfairness and favoritism and could have violated the law by taking power away from the state-defined appointing authority, the department head, and placing it in the hands of a small committee within the mayor’s office.
West Hawaii Today, in an investigation, expanded on the audit’s findings by revealing the use of sticky notes and the acronym “POI” to designate a “person of interest,” who was selected even before recruitment was conducted for positions.
A followup audit earlier this year by Auditor Tyler Benner found that procedures have changed within the department, creating a more level playing field for applicants.
Those interested in seeing available jobs and applying can visit https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/countyhawaii .
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.
