A wide swath of unfilled state government jobs could become available to more applicants, if a bill moving through the North Carolina legislature becomes law.
The effort to make applying — and hiring — easier comes as the state attempts to recruit and retain workers across agencies. There are currently about more than 14,300 vacancies across state government. That has slowed services, from DMV appointments to safety inspections and the availability of mental health care.
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The state Senate unanimously approved a bill Thursday that would direct state human resources staff to reassess job descriptions and, where possible, dial back on requirements for education and years of past experience. The bill now heads to the state House for review.
State lawmakers believe there are too many government jobs currently open only to people with a four-year college degree — positions they think could be done just as well by someone who went to community college — or who didn't go to college at all but has relevant experience from a trade school, the military or some other source of training.
Senate Bill 124 would also direct state human resources officials to consider cutting down on the amount of previous work experience required for jobs.
"We have literally hundreds of jobs that are open, that could be filled by experienced people, and we hope this will do that," Sen. Kevin Corbin, R-Macon, said during a committee hearing on the bill Wednesday.
On Thursday, lawmakers appeared to think the bill was self-evident in its ability to help improve state government. It passed with no debate, and no opposition.
The situation has prompted legislative and executive branch officials to take other action in recent years — offering ways to hire faster, offer bonuses and increase salaries.
Legislators in 2022 provided agencies with some money to raise pay and provide managers with more flexibility to offer signing and retention bonuses. Lawmakers provided state agencies a 1% boost in their budget to use for recruitment and retention efforts. Some agencies have also been exploring new recruitment methods.
Former Gov. Roy Cooper in 2023 issued an executive order encouraging more people to apply for state government and prioritizing work experience over formal degrees when considering applicants, similar to SB 124.
To some extent, the efforts appear to have helped. On July 1, the start of the current fiscal year, there were about 15,300 vacant state government positions, or about 21.3% of available positions. That’s down from about 23.5% a year earlier, representing the first year-over-year drop since 2020, state data show. In February — the most recent month with available state employee data — the vacancy rate had dropped to 20%.
Gov. Josh Stein is also working to drive that rate lower. Last month, he announced a new effort to encourage federal workers to apply for state government jobs — particularly those employees in danger of being fired amid budget-slashing efforts by the federal Department of Government Efficiency. The initiative also seeks to lure people who may have lost their jobs following Hurricane Helene.
Nearly 700 people have already reached out through that portal about finding work in state government, Stein’s office said Thursday.
While opening up state jobs to more applicants could help, groups that advocate for state employees say the main problem is low pay.
Republican leaders at the state legislature have given relatively large raises in recent years to the Highway Patrol and to prison workers. But most other agencies have seen substantially lower raises, as lawmakers have focused spending on different priorities such as private school tuition vouchers.
The competitive, fast-growing private sector market is often able to more quickly adjust salary offerings to better compete against jobs offered by government agencies. On average, private sector jobs pay about $2,000 more than state government jobs, according to state data.
Benefits have also gotten less attractive. The legislature has allowed pension increases for retirees to lag behind inflation. And, for current workers, the State Health Plan has cut services and raised premiums for some. Across-the-board health premium increases are expected later this year.
As lawmakers have cut taxes, they've also been reluctant to increase state spending. A large portion of the state's $31 billion annual budget goes to salaries already.
The state has been running budget surpluses in recent years, spurred by the booming population and economy. But state budget analysts believe that's about to end: By 2026 revenues will start dropping, a new economic forecast predicted last month, unless lawmakers change their tax policies.
State lawmakers in the middle of writing a new budget, in which they could tackle tax policy, state worker pay and other issues. Stein has recommended freezing planned tax cuts and slashing voucher funding, and using the savings to give most state workers a 2% raise plus an extra $1,000 bonus. He’d give higher 6.5% raises to prison workers and youth counselors, plus an average 10.6% raise to teachers phased in over two years.
GOP leaders have indicated many of Stein’s budget proposals will receive no support in the state legislature, however.