Placer County invested millions to address employee retention. Did it work?

Millions of dollars invested by Placer County to hire and retain county employees has brought its vacancy rate to about 9% across all departments.

In the past calendar year, the county had 301 open positions, which includes 34 jobs created last year, according to a presentation from the Human Resources Department given Tuesday to the Placer County Board of Supervisors describing the county’s employment rates amid a nationwide crunch of qualified government workers. Officials said 234 jobs were empty as of Feb. 1.

While there is about a 9% vacancy rate for represented employees across all county departments, the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, which represents part of the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, has an 11% vacancy rate.

Statistics presented by the county’s human resources department only capture employees part of a labor organization or union, said Human Resources Director Joe Ambrosini. Information about job vacancies, recruitment and retention efforts must be presented during a public hearing at least once a fiscal year, mandated by the passage of Assembly Bill 2561. It became effective this year and led officials to provide Tuesday the first ever such presentation.

“The legislation came from the fact that a lot of public agencies are struggling to build their vacancies in a timely manner,” Ambrosini said.

Placer County’s vacancy rate is lower than other jurisdictions, said Nicole Lopez, the assistant director for the county’s human resource department. She noted some of her colleagues grappled with nearly a 15% to 25% shortage of workers. Sacramento County had a vacancy rate of over 10%, according to past reporting from The Sacramento Bee.

Unfilled positions are not always caused by negative factors, Ambrosini said. He added that new positions take time to recruit, staffers leave for personal reasons and local municipalities all must compete fiercely for a shrinking pool of qualified candidates.

Some methods to attract and retain workers include: “significant” cost of living adjustments; signing bonuses for difficult to fill jobs; health benefits for retirees; holistic wellness programs; flexible work schedules; employee appreciation programs; and career development opportunities, according to the presentation.

The Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, a labor organization, had about 11% vacancy rate, according to the presentation. In comparison, the Placer Public Employees Organization, a union, had about a 9% vacancy rate.

The Board of Supervisors in 2023 invested $29 million for the last four years, until 2027, to help hire and keep sheriff’s deputies. They were set to receive an 11% raise, starting in 2023, across the next three years under a new memorandum of understanding.

Some incentives for deputies include being paid $464 per month for speaking another language, more than $1,000 to upkeep uniforms for deputies serving in select areas and a paid exercise session for one hour, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Just under half of all employees who left stayed with Placer County for about three years, suggesting more work needs to be directed toward retaining workers, Ambrosini said.

Hiring bus drivers has also become a priority. Supervisor Cindy Gustafson said a bus driver shortage, felt across the nation, leads to residents experiencing frustration as they wait. County officials are examining their options to attract bus drivers after exploring a retention bonus and pay equity adjustments last year, Lopez said.

“We are failing to deliver service … because we don’t have bus drivers,” Gustafson said, adding hiring those workers is a “huge challenge.”

This story was originally published April 16, 2025 at 7:00 AM.