Nearly 18% of 66,000 Arkansas executive branch and higher education jobs remained unfilled this year, according to available data.

The Arkansas Department of Veteran Affairs (ADVA) reported the highest percentage of staff vacancies in a single department, according to the Department of Transformation and Shared Services. Of the agency’s 303 total positions, nearly 59% were unfilled as of Dec. 5.

“The vast majority of our vacancies are direct care nursing positions at our two State Veterans Homes,” retired Army Maj. Gen. Kendall Penn, the department secretary, said in a statement. “However, our veteran residents are still getting exceptional care at both homes through a combination of state government-employed nurses and nurses provided by contracted staffing agencies.”

Penn, who was appointed in January 2023, will resign from his position on Dec. 31, 2024. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Dec. 17 named retired Air National Guard Col. Robert Ator II as Penn’s successor. 

“[Arkansas] state government continues to face a significant challenge trying to match the market rate for nursing positions, as well as additional ADVA high vacancy and low volume positions, such as those in food service and maintenance,” Penn said. “These challenged areas artificially inflate our overall department vacancy rate.”

Penn said the department hopes to reduce its vacancy rate in 2025 using a combination of special compensation recruitment and retention bonuses. Penn also noted competitive salary increases may stem from Arkansas Forward — an initiative from the governor that aims to increase government efficiency — which he said could help with vacancies.

While Veteran Affairs had the highest vacancy rate among departments, the Department of Finance and Administration’s Division of Racing reported a 78% vacancy rate with 11 of its 14 positions empty as of Dec. 5.

But DFA isn’t planning to hire any additional full-time staff to the three positions it already has filled, spokesperson Scott Hardin said.

“The Racing Division’s needs are met in full each year,” Hardin said. “The Division utilizes seasonal, extra-help positions for those that work in live racing for a certain period each year. It allows the state to meet all needs throughout the live racing season. In addition, three full-time employees oversee the day-to-day operation of the division.”

Higher education positions at colleges and universities are also on the state payroll. According to Arkansas Department of Education data from October, Southeast Arkansas Community College reported the highest vacancy rate at 66%. Of the school’s 365 available positions, 243 were vacant.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences offers the most positions of any college or university with over 11,000 jobs. Data shows UAMS has one of the lowest vacancy rates among higher education institutions at 8.5%.

‘Arkansas Forward’

In November, Sanders announced a proposed overhaul of the state employee pay plan through the Arkansas Forward initiative, which officials have said aims to improve government efficiency.

Arkansas state employee pay plan overhaul boosts salaries for hard-to-fill jobs

The proposed pay plan would cost an estimated $120 million annually and provide pay raises to 14,539 employees. It would also add two pay table distinctions, professionals and law enforcement and safety, to an existing four classifications: general, information technology, medical professional and senior executive.

The pay plan does not propose decreasing any available jobs, though it would consolidate roughly 2,000 job titles into approximately 800, officials said.

If approved by the Legislature, the pay plan would go into effect in July 2025.

According to a 900-page progress report on Arkansas Forward the governor’s office released on Dec. 16, the whole initiative could save the state $300 million over the next six years by implementing cost-saving measures.

The report suggests that many Arkansas cabinet-level agencies need to upgrade their salary schedules to compete in the job market.

In addition to the employee pay plan, the initiative also calls for the integration of information technology across all state agencies, a centralized state procurement process and renegotiated contracts, the sale of old state vehicles and a reduction to the government’s physical footprint by identifying cost savings in real estate.

The report provides examples of “compensation levers,” or instances in which an employee would receive a bonus based on their performance. The report also recommends one-time annual bonuses for people who “perform above baseline,” and “spot bonuses” that are awarded outside the normal evaluation cycle to employees meeting their performance expectations.

“I’ve made no secret that I believe that Arkansas’ current state employee pay plan is broken,” Sanders said at a November press conference announcing her proposed pay revamp. “It’s confusing, it doesn’t reward hard work and it’s not recruiting new hires for our most in-demand positions.”

The initiative would increase the entry-level salaries of correctional officers, social services employees and Arkansas State Police officers at double-digit percentages. Officials often describe these positions as the state’s toughest to fill.

According to data from the state Department of Transformation and Shared Services, the Department of Human Services reported 20% of its positions were vacant.

State Police reported a vacancy rate of about 10%, and spokesperson Cindy Murphy said the agency had 74 vacant officer positions on Dec. 4.

The vacancy rate across all correctional departments and agencies was nearly 30% as of Dec. 5.  Shari Gray, a spokesperson for the Department of Corrections, said 1,010 security positions — including correctional officers — were vacant.

At the Board of Corrections’ monthly December meeting, members discussed extending shifts of most employees at Community Correction Centers from 8 hours to 12 hours. The change in shifts would both reduce the need to hire more staff and ensure that there’s enough around-the-clock supervision to allow more inmates to be moved from county jails to the state-run centers.

Statewide job openings

The roughly 12,000 vacant state jobs are a small portion of Arkansas’ total job openings. In September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Arkansas had 102,000 job openings. Arkansas tied with Alaska for the nation’s highest job openings rate at 6.9%, according to the BLS. The national rate was 4.5%.

According to the most recent BLS data from October, Arkansas’ total job openings decreased to 82,000 for a rate of 5.6%. The national rate was 4.6%.

Though Arkansas has been at the top of the rankings in recent years, Michael Pakko, chief economist at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock’s Arkansas Economic Development Institute, said the inflated rates are a nationwide phenomenon.

“On one hand, it means that we have a robust labor market where there’s plenty of opportunities for workers and job seekers,” Pakko said. “On the other hand, it probably does indicate a mismatch that we need to address in order to utilize our full potential.”

The BLS defines open jobs as full-time, part-time or seasonal positions that could start within 30 days and an employer is actively recruiting outside workers.

The number of jobs available can also contribute to a higher quit rate because workers feel comfortable that there are other opportunities out there, Pakko said. The perception, however, puts more constraints on employers, and they may have to offer higher wages to keep staff.

Nationwide, about 1.7 million fewer people were active in the workforce this November than in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce survey of unemployed workers, about half said they are now not willing to take jobs that don’t offer remote work. One in three respondents said they were focused on gaining new skills, education or training before reentering the job market, and 17% had retired.

“As baby boomers are aging and retiring, we’re losing a lot of that cohort of workers, and then it’s a matter of offsetting that with higher participation from younger-aged groups,” Pakko said.