Minneapolis is crushing it in the job market, outpacing last year’s employment figures and boasting an uptick in workforce diversity, Mayor Jacob Frey announced. In what's being hailed as a win for the city's Human Resources department, first-quarter numbers show a hefty leap in hires, with a 101% surge in job candidates to boot, according to the City of Minneapolis' official website.
Working tirelessly to boost recruitment and nail retention targets, the HR team has Minneapolis as a shiny beacon for job seekers, said Mayor Frey. "The data is clear: people want to work for the City of Minneapolis," he espoused. Meanwhile, the time to get a desk filled has been trimmed down significantly, from 102 to 71 days. While fighting against the pandemic's labor shortage aftermath, Minneapolis is showing fellow cities how it's done, especially for critical roles like 911 call operators.
It's not just about getting bodies in the door either—Minneapolis is promoting from within and hooking employees on a long-term career path with the city. "In Q1 2024, internal promotions made up 33% of City hires," touted the Minneapolis news release. An employee engagement survey from 2023 also pumped up the city's tires, revealing 78% of workers were in it for the long haul, loving their work's impact.
The city's recruitment crusade wasn't just about cranking out more hires. It's a mosaic of faces with a 56% and 57% leap in Hispanic or Latino and Native American hires respectively. Women and other minority groups also saw increases, all part of HR's master plan to mirror the city's vibrant demographic patchwork in its workforce. Schmoozing at job fairs and hitting the radio waves, the HR unit's been painting the town with their message, snagging a more varied crowd.
Minneapolis is setting a robust example for municipal hiring, proving that a focused HR strategy doesn’t only fill vacant roles but energizes a diverse array of city dwellers to serve their communities. And with people apparently clamoring to be a part of the city's operations, it might just be that Minneapolis has cracked the code to building a resilient, representative public sector workforce in a post-pandemic world.
