The state saw a surge in job applications after several recruiting efforts, although the number of actual hires they’ve resulted in is still low.
The state received about 41,500 applications last year, up 27% from 2024.
The state Department of Human Resources Development says that’s in part due to its marketing efforts as well as Operation Hire Hawaiʻi — the expedited hiring program that launched last February amid federal cuts to services and jobs.
“We got almost 8,000 applications just for the (Operation Hire Hawaiʻi) jobs alone. And a lot of it, I think, is our marketing,” department Director Brenna Hashimoto said at a recent informational briefing to state lawmakers.
“We've done the bus, we've done the theaters, we've done malls, we've done (University of Hawaiʻi) athletic events. We're using LinkedIn. Recently we signed a contract with Neogov and use their attract feature, which basically allows us to reach out directly to applicants.”
But those efforts haven’t yet translated to actual hires.
There were nearly 4,300 vacant state jobs as of November 2025, which represents 24% of all state positions and is the same vacancy rate reported for November 2024.
The department did say that outdated vacancy numbers could be inflating the stats, along with the pay discrepancy at the state compared to county jobs and the private sector.
It also noted that nearly 300 state jobs were created last year, so it argued that a similar vacancy rate means there was some hiring progress.
Hashimoto also said that the department is constantly reviewing applications, suggesting that the pool of qualified applicants is continuously growing.
Office assistants represent the biggest portion of the unfilled jobs. About 9.5%, or about 380, office assistant jobs at the state are vacant — the most of any other single job.
There are more than 400 vacancies for adult corrections officer jobs at various levels, about 200 for human services professionals, and 120 for state engineer jobs.
