The city of Honolulu is launching a pilot program offering telework and flexible schedules in order to attract workers to fill thousands of open job positions.
According to Hawaii News Now, seven city offices and departments are participating in the program, including the Board of Water Supply and Department of Customer Services.
“It’s a pilot program to expand and better define the city’s offerings for alternate work schedules,” said Amy Asselbaye, executive director of the Office of Economic Revitalization, according to Hawaii News Now.
Asselbaye said that although the program officially kicks off on Tuesday, schedule changes won't actually be implemented until the fiscal year starts in July. She added that the city plans to closely follow the program to see if alternative work options actually increase hiring.
Nola Miyasaki, director of human resources, said that job seekers want options and that "every edge that we can get would be great" in the current labor shortage. In March 2022, the city had 1,831 vacant positions, and at the end of last month, the city had added 17 workers, which did break a five-year trend of losing workers. Currently, out of just over 7,000 city employees, more than 3,700 employees are either flexing their schedules or teleworking.
In addition to telework and flexible schedules, the city prosecutor's pffice wants to try something different: fast-tracking college graduates for some higher positions. Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm said that paralegal positions are particularly tough to fill because people need to have five years of legal experience, which is difficult to get. Alm wants to partner with Kapiolani Community College to give graduates of the program a chance to gain that experience in his office. Alm is requesting, as part of his budget plan, to create a new entry-level paralegal position. If the council approves it, he could hire recent graduates in the lower position to gain experience and then move them up after the five years.
Councilwoman Radiant Cordero, chair of the budget committee, said that "getting potential workers in right away" is one way to fill vacancies, Hawaii News Now reported. However, first responder agencies are not included in the city's vacancy numbers or the pilot project because those departments set their own employee schedules.