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County vacancies top 10%; union and staff warn of service impacts as hiring bottlenecks persist
Summary
Santa Clara County reported a 10.4% vacancy rate across coded positions; SEIU and county staff debated causes and solutions including hiring delays, extra-help pipelines and potential federal funding at risk for health services.
Santa Clara County officials on Tuesday presented a statutorily required annual report on vacant positions and heard a presentation from SEIU Local 521 that described 2,665 vacancies in union-represented classifications and urged immediate action to fill frontline roles.
County staff said the county-wide coded vacancy rate as of April 2025 was 10.4% and explained the figure reflects current hiring controls. Acting Human Resources leaders told the board that, in a period of fiscal uncertainty, the county has imposed a "soft hiring freeze"—a department-level review before filling many openings—to preserve flexibility and avoid disruptive layoffs if budgets are cut. Employee Services Agency staff said…
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