May 19, 2026
Human Resources
DATE: May 19, 2026
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Nickie Mastay, Deputy City Manager, Internal Services
Sharrone Taylor, Director of Human Resources
Subject:
Annual Public Hearing on Vacancies
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact associated with this item.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
None.
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
Government Code section 3502.3 requires public
agencies to hold a public hearing to present the status of vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts at least once per fiscal year, prior to adoption of the budget.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
HOLD a public hearing and RECEIVE a presentation on
the status of vacancies and the City’s recruitment and
retention efforts in 2025 – Human Resources (Nickie
Mastay/Sharrone Taylor 510-620-6803).
DISCUSSION:
Government Code section 3502.3 requires public agencies to hold a public hearing to present the status of vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts at least once per fiscal year, and prior to the adoption of the final budget. City staff will present the following required information at the public hearing:
AGENDA
REPORT
May 19, 2026
Information on the City of Richmond’s 2025 recruitment and retention efforts The status of 2025 vacancies at the City of Richmond
Any necessary changes to policies, procedures, and recruitment activities that may lead to obstacles in the hiring process
In addition, a bargaining unit shall be entitled to make a presentation at the public hearing at which the public agency presents the status of vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts for positions within that bargaining unit. The hearing will follow the procedures outlined in the Council Rules of Procedure and allow each bargaining unit to present for 10 minutes, since Government Code section 3502.3 is silent on the hearing procedures, including presentation times, pre-submission of materials, and other related considerations. The Service Employees International Union, Local 1021 (SEIU Local 1021), and the Richmond Police Officers Association (RPOA) have elected to present at the public hearing.
Background
In FY 20-21, the City of Richmond had ~581 FTEs; currently, there are ~673 FTEs, a net increase of 92 FTEs. In FY 26-27, the City of Richmond is currently anticipated to be able to afford ~684 FTEs due to rising inflation, increased health care costs, class and compensation increases, and bargaining unit increases. As additional revenue and expenses are finalized, the FY 26-27 recommended FTEs will be updated. City staff will monitor recent rapid increases in inflation and, as public safety MOUs are finalized, update projections to make recommendations to the City Council. 2025 Workforce and Recruitment Summary
This summary report provides transparency on staff vacancy rates, recruitment, retention, and promotion efforts and challenges, and offers an opportunity for public comments prior to budget adoption.
2025 Workforce Vacancy Average Snapshot
Average budgeted and authorized Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) positions: 802.4 Filled positions: 658.8
Total vacant positions:143.6
Net FTE increase: +2
Average vacancy rate: (18%).
Note: The average is calculated based on the number of FTE and vacancies at the end of each calendar month.
2025 Workforce Recruitment, Retention, and Promotions Snapshot
During calendar year 2025, Human Resources implemented a range of initiatives to support recruitment, retention, and employee advancement. These efforts included maintaining competitive salaries and benefits, streamlining onboarding through NEOGOV (the City’s online recruitment and onboarding platform), expanding
May 19, 2026
advertising to targeted professional associations and publications, conducting exit surveys, hosting employee engagement and health and wellness events, and providing classification-specific training. These efforts resulted in the following outcomes:
Total number of applications processed: 6,474
Total recruitments: 68
Total new hires: 91
Total promotions: 49
2025 Hires and Separations by Month
The table below presents monthly workforce data for calendar year 2025, including hires, promotions, position changes, and separations that occurred each month, as well as the total number of vacancies, FTE budgeted, and the corresponding percentage of FTEs vacant at the end of each month.
Month
2025 J F M A M J J A S O N D
FTE Budgeted 808 808 800 800 800 800 800 800 800 800 800 810 Hires 9 6 27 3 2 7 7 6 4 7 3 10
Promotions 3 5 3 6 4 11 4 2 2 4 3 2
Position
Change
-8 10
Separations -6 -7 -8 -3 -8 -3 -9 -6 -4 -8 -4 -9
Vacancies 162 162 135 135 141 137 139 140 140 141 142 151 Vacancy % 20% 20% 17% 17% 18% 17% 17% 18% 18% 18% 18% 19% The average vacancy rate for 2025 was 18 percent.
2025 Vacancy Information by Bargaining Unit
Bargaining unit vacancy rates were calculated by taking an average of each unit’s vacancy rate at the end of each month in 2025.
Bargaining Unit 2025 Vacancy
Rate
IFPTE Local 21 – Mid-Management Unit 23.5%
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021 – General Employees Bargaining Unit 19.0%
Richmond Police Officers’ Association (RPOA) 17.8%
International Federation of Professional and Technical
Engineers (IFPTE) Local 21 – Executive Management Unit 15.0% International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 188 8.7%
May 19, 2026
SEIU Local 1021 – Part-Time and Intermittent Employees
Bargaining Unit 7.1%
Richmond Fire Management Association (RFMA) 3.3%
Richmond Police Management Association (RPMA) 1.4%
2025 Factors That Inform Hiring Processes and Vacancy Rates
Several factors inform recruitment, hiring, retention, promotion, and vacancy rates.
These factors include:
Time-to-Hire: Civil service rules necessitate that we follow standardized procedures, testing requirements, public posting periods, and multiple approval steps designed to ensure fairness and transparency, along with extensive and necessary background checks.
Applicant Pool: For specific technical and specialized jobs, there is a decline in the number of qualified applicants.
Internal Movement: Internal promotions and transfers within the City maintain the vacancy rate. For example, when an employee leaves the City (e.g., due to retirement) a qualified internal candidate may fill that position through promotion or transfer; however, this then maintains a vacant position (the employee’s prior position) that needs to be filled.
Obstacles / Efforts
One additional factor that may be an obstacle to the recruitment and selection process is the minimum application filing period established by personnel rules. The requirement to accept applications for at least ten (10) days ensures broad access and transparency; however, it can also create unintended challenges depending on the classification. For entry-level positions, a ten-day filing period often results in a high volume of applications, many of which are likely to meet the minimum qualifications.
This can increase administrative burden, lengthen screening and selection timelines, and delay overall hiring. Conversely, for highly specialized or hard-to-fill classifications, extended recruitment windows do not necessarily yield a proportional increase in qualified applicants, resulting in prolonged vacancies despite sustained outreach efforts.
These dynamics may affect the efficiency and timeliness of hiring processes and suggest an opportunity to evaluate whether recruitment strategies and timelines can be more flexibly aligned with labor market conditions and classification-specific needs.
The Human Resources Department will use this data to evaluate whether recruitment strategies and timelines can be more flexibly aligned with labor market conditions and classification-specific needs.
May 19, 2026
2025 Retention and Vacancy Creation
Although the City brought on 91 hires, additional vacancies have been created for several reasons. These include when new positions are approved, there is internal movement such as a promotion or transfer, or when an employee leaves the organization due to retirement, voluntary resignation, or involuntary termination. In addition, the City Council has requested new programs and staffing to support their goals and priorities.
In 2025, 108 new vacancies were created for the following reasons:
Newly added positions: 2
Internal promotions that created vacancies: 28
Internal transfers that created vacancies: 3
Total number of separations: 75
o Retirement: 22
o Resignation: 36
o Involuntary:14
o Other: 3
The City’s annual turnover rate was 11 percent, calculated as 75 separations divided by 659 (the average filled positions).
Reasons for Leaving the City
The chart below summarizes the four most common reasons employees cited for voluntarily separating from City employment. Information was gathered from a resignation letter, a conversation with the employee, and/or a voluntary exit questionnaire. For 13 voluntarily separated employees, the staff does not have information about their reasons for leaving.
Definitions
Retirement: permanent separation from one’s job position due to an eligible employee electing to receive retirement benefits through CalPERS. Resignations: Formal and voluntary separation from employment initiated by the employee, typically through written notice.
o Another Job: Separation from current job position to pursue employment with another organization, company, or self-employment. o Personal Pursuits/Reasons: Reasons attributed to personal circumstances or life changes identified by the employee, including relocating out of the area, going back to school, family commitments, etc.
May 19, 2026
o Other Resignation: The City does not have a known reason for their resignation
Additional Data Provided through Exit Surveys
Employees voluntarily leaving City employment were given the opportunity to complete an optional exit questionnaire to share information regarding the factors influencing their decision to leave and about their experience.
The questionnaire was completed by 14 employees (25% of the 58 employees who retired or resigned). Eight (8) of those employees’ main reasons for leaving were either another job or personal pursuits/reasons. Although data is limited, here are the factors they cited regarding their decision to leave (employees could choose as many factors as applicable):
Career advancement (higher or different position) 5
Family/personal reasons 3
School 2
Flexible hours 2
Better benefits 1
Telework 1
Conflict 1
Regarding overall satisfaction, the average rating was 4 out of 5. Respondents were given the opportunity to provide additional feedback on their supervision and work environment.
Notably, 86 percent of respondents felt they were almost always given the tools to succeed and that their supervisors followed the rules and procedures. There was a 14 percent decrease between “almost always” (57%) and “usually” (43%) for being encouraged and listened to, indicating an area for improvement.
Retirement, 22,
38%
Another Job, 12,
21%
Personal
Pursuits/Reasons, 11,
19%
Other resignation
13 22%
May 19, 2026
What did you think of the supervision you received in relation to the following:
Given the
tools to
succeed
Demonstrated
fair and equal
treatment
Encouraged and
listened to
suggestions
Followed
policies and
procedures
Almost Always 6 5 4 6
Usually 1 - 3 -
Sometimes - 2 - 1
Never - - - -
Year-to-Year Vacancy, Recruitment, and Retention Comparison
The focus of this public hearing is to provide an update on vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts in the prior calendar year (2025). The City first conducted this public hearing in 2024 in accordance with California Government Code Section 3502.3.
Attachment 2 provides a comparison between the two years (2024 and 2025) for the key indicators. City staff will continue to update this attachment in future years.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Presentation (Draft)
Attachment 2 – Comparison with Prior Year