HARRISBURG – Secretary of Administration Neil Weaver announced that the Office of Administration (OA) has reduced the average time to hire Commonwealth employees by nearly 27 percent, from 90 days to 66 days.
“We want to ensure that our Commonwealth agencies have the resources they need to effectively deliver the programs and services that millions of Pennsylvanians depend on,” said Secretary Weaver. “Accelerating the hiring process helps them maintain staffing levels, which in turn minimizes backlogs and the length of time other employees may need to take on extra work while a position is vacant. Continuing to reduce our time to hire will help make us more competitive in the job market and attract more applicants to our job openings.”
Heeding Governor Shapiro’s calls to make state government move at the speed of business, increase opportunities for Pennsylvanians to chart their own course to success, and focus on improving customer service, OA in January began piloting measures to streamline hiring and connect with more job seekers. This included expediting all steps of the hiring process for positions related to licensing, permitting, and certifications; holding hiring events at Commonwealth facilities that enabled job seekers to apply on-the-spot and receive immediate interviews and conditional job offers; and rearranging the selection process sequence for maximum efficiency.
In July, OA formalized many of these efforts into updated policy and procedures for non-civil service hiring. Key changes included limiting the posting time for most job vacancies to a maximum of five days and making it easier for hiring managers to extend on-the-spot job offers to candidates. Additionally, OA provided guidance to agencies to streamline interviews, which is often the longest step in the hiring process.
Under the Shapiro Administration, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has established itself as a leading employer. This year, the Commonwealth was ranked one of the top employers in the nation by recent college graduates and one of the top employers in the state by Pennsylvania workers in separate surveys conducted by Forbes magazine and Statista.
The Commonwealth is working to make itself more attractive to job seekers in additional ways. They include Governor Shapiro’s Executive Order to emphasize skills and experience in state hiring, as well as:
- Expanding internship opportunities for high school and college students to raise awareness of public service and create new pipelines for talent.
- Creating internships and apprenticeships for non-degree students pursuing careers in a variety of fields.
- Offering the William and Hannah Penn Fellowship for job seekers with advanced degrees.
- Establishing a Commonwealth Chief Diversity Officer to lead diversity, equity, belonging, and inclusion initiatives across Commonwealth agencies.
Job seekers can visit Employment.pa.gov to view and apply to current job openings, receive notifications about new vacancies in their field, and learn more about the Commonwealth’s Total Rewards benefits for employees. Check out the list of upcoming job fairs and hiring events to meet with a Commonwealth recruiter. You can also visit Careers.employment.pa.gov to view all Commonwealth job titles, descriptions, salaries, and other details for all positions, including those that do not require a college degree.
