Santa Barbara may be an attractive place to live, but the city government is having trouble filling vacant positions within its various departments. The vacancy rate rose to nearly 10 percent during February 2024, according to a recent report presented to the City Council on Tuesday, April 15, by Labor Relations Manager Sam Ramirez.
The City of Santa Barbara has 1,098 budgeted full-time equivalent positions, with eight unions representing workers in public safety, community programs, and general operations. In total, the city filled 207 job vacancies last year, with around half of those (51 percent) being new hires and the remainder coming from within the city employees. At the same time, there were 166 vacancies created, with 77 due to internal promotions and 27 coming through retirement. Eight city employees “involuntarily” lost their jobs, and 52 more decided to leave on their own.
Last year, there were up to 100 vacancies during any given month, with the city reporting 75 remaining unfilled positions by December 2024. The Police Officer’s Association (POA) reported the highest vacancy rate, with 20 positions unfilled out of 182 budgeted positions, representing a rate of nearly 11 percent.