Politics & Government
San Mateo County Pushes Incentives To Help Fill Job Vacancies
County officials will consider implementing new hiring incentives such as hiring bonuses, increased benefits for new hires and more.
By Astrid Casimire, Bay City News Foundation
SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — San Mateo County's Board of Supervisors will receive a job recruitment and retention update at its meeting on Tuesday.
Amid an increase in job vacancies, county officials will consider implementing new hiring incentives such as hiring bonuses, increased benefits for new hires and more.
Find out what's happening in San Mateofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Vacancies and turnover rates are higher than normal in the county, similar to trends seen statewide and nationwide. Following a hiring freeze that began in 2020 and ended last year, county departments have begun to recruit for open positions, but the county is receiving few job applications, according to a staff report.
Some of the positions which have been hardest to fill include nurses and law enforcement positions such as deputy sheriffs.
Find out what's happening in San Mateofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The board will consider several recommendations to help fill these positions.
One recommendation is that new employees in these positions be eligible for increased benefits, such as 40 vacation hours and 80 hours of sick leave. They may also be able to accrue vacation hours at an advanced rate depending on past work experience.
A pilot program could provide a hiring bonus of up to $30,000 for people hired as deputy sheriffs and nurses or up to $15,000 for deputy sheriff trainee and correctional officer positions. The bonus would be split into several payments, with an initial payment upon starting and the rest paid pending ongoing employment.
Furthermore, current county employees could receive up to $1,000 for referring a candidate that is successfully hired in a hard-to-fill position and who completes probation. This is an increase in the previous referral award of $500.
The board of supervisors meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday and can be streamed online. To view agenda items and access the meeting video, visit here.
Copyright © 2022 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.
