Oakland Faces Nearly 1,000 City Job Vacancies

City leaders outraged as staffing report reveals high vacancy rates across critical departments.

Mar. 27, 2026 at 4:34am

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A new staffing report from Oakland's Human Relations Department shows the city has roughly 1,000 vacant city jobs, with a 19.69% vacancy rate citywide. The departments with the highest vacancy rates include the Department of Workplace and Employment, the HR Department, the Planning and Building Department, and the Department of Transportation.

Why it matters

The high number of vacant positions across critical city departments is concerning, as it can impact the delivery of essential public services and infrastructure maintenance. City leaders are outraged by the findings and are seeking to understand the root causes behind the staffing shortages.

The details

The report shows 839 vacant city positions, with the Department of Transportation alone having 119 vacant roles. City officials cite a variety of factors contributing to the vacancies, including slow paperwork processing by individual departments and budget constraints that make it difficult for department heads to fill open roles.

  • The staffing report was released this week by Oakland's Human Relations Department.

The players

Janani Ramachandran

An Oakland City Councilwoman who expressed outrage over the high vacancy rates.

Amber Lyttle

Oakland's HR Manager who explained that many vacant positions have no active hiring process.

Mary Hao

Oakland's HR Director who provided details on the vacant positions.

Zac Unger

An Oakland City Councilman seeking to understand the root causes of the staffing shortages.

Justin Johnson

Oakland's City Administrator who noted department heads are balancing filling positions with tight budgets.

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What they’re saying

“I think this is frankly disgraceful, I don't even have concrete questions because this was shocking to me, that the numbers increased since last year, that it's been the highest since the pandemic.”

— Janani Ramachandran, Oakland City Councilwoman

“One announcement can cover multiple jobs, so just because you see 20, that could fill 68 jobs.”

— Amber Lyttle, Oakland HR Manager

“51% of those positions, or 434 of them, actually have no activity. We're not able to act on them because there's no requisition or they're on hold by the department for various reasons.”

— Mary Hao, Oakland HR Director

“Let's cut through the niceties. If it's the department, then let's figure out the department, if it's HR, if it's budget finance. I still can't tell where the bottle neck is and that's what I'm trying to figure out for years.”

— Zac Unger, Oakland City Councilman

“Department heads are often weighing filling positions but also keeping to a tight budget.”

— Justin Johnson, Oakland City Administrator

What’s next

City leaders have vowed to further investigate the root causes of the staffing shortages and identify ways to streamline the hiring process across departments.

The takeaway

The high number of vacant city jobs in Oakland highlights the challenges municipalities face in attracting and retaining qualified public sector workers, especially amid budget constraints. Addressing these staffing shortages will be crucial for the city to maintain essential services and infrastructure.