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Shawnee County reports hiring gains; 55 vacancies remain, $1,500 hiring bonus for critical roles
Summary
Director of administrative services Angela Lewis told commissioners the county employed about 1,556 people as of Feb. 1, with year-over-year increases in parks, elections, dispatch and corrections; the county still lists 55 vacancies in 10 departments and offers targeted $1,500 hiring bonuses.
Angela Lewis, Shawnee County director of administrative services, told the Board of County Commissioners on Monday that the county’s workforce grew from the same time last year and that targeted hiring efforts have reduced large staffing gaps in several departments.
Lewis said the county had 1,556 employees as of Feb. 1, including full-time, part-time and seasonal staff. She reported year-over-year increases in staffing: parks and recreation added 152 positions (largely seasonal/intermittent), elections added 18 (seasonal), the sheriff’s office added 15 (largely dispatch hires), corrections added 13, and solid waste added 10.
Despite gains, Lewis said the county still lists 55 vacancies across 10 departments. She provided counts of open roles in high-demand areas: parks and recreation reported 31 seasonal openings covering golf, pools, camps, concessions, community centers and park maintenance; the health department listed eight openings (including nurse and RN roles); corrections listed three openings; the treasurer’s office listed two finance positions; and other single openings were noted in HR, information technology, the register of deeds, the sheriff’s office and solid waste.
Lewis said the county offers a $1,500 hiring bonus for certain hard-to-fill positions, including corrections specialists, registered nurses at the health department, crew leader and road maintenance positions at public works. She also described progress filling 911 dispatch roles and said training remains — new dispatch hires must complete a roughly six-month training pipeline before being fully operational.
On benefits, Lewis said the county implemented a new prescription drug plan that is expected to save money and that the overall health insurance plan remains stable; she cautioned the board that benefit-rate increases may be needed in coming years depending on claims experience. Lewis encouraged public applications and said job postings are available on the county website.
Commissioners thanked staff for the hiring progress and noted the operational benefits of added staff in corrections and dispatch.
Next steps: Lewis said HR and IT are working on user-interface improvements for the county’s job-posting system to simplify hiring workflows and public applications.
