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Chief examiner reports outreach to university job fairs and flags possible layoffs in 2026 budget
Summary
At the Oct. 21 Spokane Civil Service Commission meeting the chief examiner reported staff outreach at Eastern Washington University and Gonzaga job fairs, restarted departmental 'merit tours', and alerted commissioners that the 2026 budget may include layoffs; civil service will coordinate with HR and management.
The chief examiner for the Spokane Civil Service Commission told commissioners on Oct. 21 that staff have been active in recruitment and outreach and that civil service is coordinating with HR and management on potential layoffs under the 2026 budget.
Speaking to the commission, the chief examiner said marketing coordinator Paxton and administrative manager Shelly attended job fairs this month at Eastern Washington University (EWU) — both the all-majors fair and an engineering-specific fair — and at Gonzaga University’s all-majors fair. The chief examiner also said the commission completed this quarter’s "merit tours" to departments outside city hall and plans to resume those tours in early spring.
On the 2026 budget, the chief examiner referenced a recent newspaper article regarding the possibility of layoffs and said civil service is "working closely with HR and management to address the possible layoffs that may be affecting staff" and that the office is prepared to work with affected employees. "We are always open and available for them," the chief examiner said. The chief examiner said more information would be provided at the next meeting.
The commission had no follow-up questions during that update and moved on to the classification actions portion of the agenda.
The outreach items describe ongoing recruitment and staff-engagement activities; the budget comment signals coordination between civil service and HR but did not include specific headcount, departments affected or dollar amounts. The chief examiner said details will be reported at a future meeting.
