Committee Hears Reports on State of Cook County Labor Force

Cook County Board Labor Committee             
May 12, 2026
(Also see the separate report for the other Committee Meetings on May 12 and 13)

The Labor Committee, in response to the Resolution in Item 26-1249, requested the County Elected Officials to report on the state of its labor force. They were asked to address: reducing the current vacancy rate and hiring timeline; reducing employee turnover rate; aggregate demographics of the official’s current workforce, limited to race and gender; collaboration efforts with labor unions on hiring initiatives; and pathway programs to create and sustain a future workforce. Below is a summary of those reports for each entity:

Human Resources (covering the Offices under the President) – 2,700 employees

• Vacancy: 14%; Timeline: 60 days for recruitment; 30 days from interview to onboarding; turnover 8.44%; average tenure about 10 years; male/female ratio balanced, diversity representative of community; have action plan to address any change in demographics

Processes in place to address recruitment and retention

• Introduced engagement (with 76% response from current employees) and exit surveys
• Managers hire; Union input on employee performance review process
• Emphasize countywide benefits, competitive salaries, some positions with hybrid work options, pension and vacation benefits, attractive health and wellness packages
• 1 year fellowship program with Northwestern and UofC; created entry level jobs for interns to join; work with CPS

Comm. Degnan asked for actual economic impact of maternity/paternity leave that was extended several years ago with an estimated cost of $3M.  Commissioners now have the opportunity to add interns to their staffs.

Cook County Health - 6,620 employees

• Vacancy: 19.8%; Timeline: 78 days; Turnover: 8.4%; Tenure about 10 years; staff predominantly female; 47% identifying black population

Processes in place to address recruitment and retention:

• Work with unions on hiring initiatives, updated job descriptions as jobs/duties change;
• Adapted Docusign and rebuilt Linkedin page to accelerate hiring process; reduce redundancies
• County supported programs include Provident Scholarship Fund -- scholarships with wrap around programs and mentorships; Health Catalyst program -- challenge grant w/City College providing 1 year externship; Project Rainbow with Google --18-month program to obtain Google certification for career in cybersecurity and data analytics

Assessor’s Office – 73 employees

• Vacancy: 13%; Timeline: 49 days from recruitment to hiring; use exit interviews, new hire and internal transfer surveys to assess job issues; majority female workforce; minority representation reflects community 

Processes in place to address recruitment and retention

• Monthly labor/management meetings to address/reduce grievances; quarterly classification review for job descriptions and levels; added 50 bargaining unit members at higher grades
• Added Dir of Recruitment and HR Director
• Use job fairs and public service panels to recruit; have new-hire cohort meetings
• Added skills assessments, eg., Excel, Word, etc., to process for more reliable info for hiring; also do criminal background checks; use surveys for feedback on hiring and transfers
• Engagement committee plans events for employees, such as Coffee & Conversation, Lunch & Learn, peer cheer celebrations
• Hybrid work opportunities
• Use internships and partnerships with local high schools and colleges to identify potential employees

In response to a question from Comm. Lowry, higher compensation is driver in those leaving.

Board of Review – 177 employees

• Management/Supervisory 12%, analyst/taxpayer services 65%, admin/support 13%
• Vacancy:  14; Timeline: 15 days; Turnover: 4%; Employee demographic reflects community

The following are processes in place to address recruitment and retention

• Continually review compensation structures; invest in workforce development, stability; growth and opportunity; promote employee professional education/certified staff
• Just completing first union labor agreement with SEIU

In response to a question from Comm. Anaya, will supply how many employees are bilingual and what languages.

Clerk of Circuit Court    1,400 employees

• Vacancy:  8.6%; Timeline: 45-60 days interview to first day; use enhanced screening; just did massive hire; Turnover: 1.8%; tenure: 18 years; majority women; majority black identifying

The following are processes in place to address recruitment and retention

• Follow employment plan; job fairs; standardized interviews; enhanced screening; skill-based assessment tests; reduce redundancies
• Added business agent; bimonthly meetings with union which includes education on hiring process, laterals and promotions
• All staff gets customer service training; rotate courtrooms for varied experience, focus on substantive training; have work/life balance sessions in lunch & learn; internal advising available for laterals and promotions

Comm. Stamps asked about testing – standardized math, verbal, reading comprehension, multiple choice; starting salary is $48,000

Cook County Clerk -- 200-500 employees depending on season

• Vacancy:  13.6%; Timeline: 49-60 days posting to hiring; Turnover relatively low; 40% male; 60% female; mostly diverse workforce; new deputy clerk dedicated to DEI

The following are processes in place to address recruitment and retention

• Continually review job descriptions; update interview questions; job fairs
• Cross-over training; career mobility opportunities/promote from within; responsive to employees’ concerns; regularly meet with staff; developing employee recognition program; conflict resolution and sexual harassment training
• Seasonal election workers in bargaining unit; encourage upward mobility with skills-based training; union input to reclassify jobs; quarterly management meetings

Comm Stamps wants more info on the effectiveness of using job fairs vs. cost and time/

Sheriff  -- 5,000 employees 

• Vacancy:  96 civilian, 148 sworn; Timeline: 73 days; use background investigation software to reduce time between application to training; HR reduced # classes from 8 to 6; increased size of classes; tenure – 13.5 years; Demographics reflects diversity of community

The following are processes in place to address recruitment and retention

• Large social media presence; 20 career fairs 
• Standardized orientation and onboarding; Learning and Development workshops for managers/leaders; annual performance evaluations via Benchmark software; employee engagement/development programs; partnerships with higher education, agreements to discount tuition; peer support
• 15 bargaining units; meeting almost daily w/different units.
• Internship program; good relations with college and universities in area; developing pipelines with Chicago Public Schools and area high schools 
• Stamps: in and out basically even; women leadership support; upper management diverse; training exceeds state standards re implicit bias and cultural competency; training in person and module

State’s Attorney -- 1,452 employees, 924 are Asst State’s Attorneys (ASA)

• Vacancies:  104 ASA, 5 investigator, 62 admin;istrative. Timeline: 40-45 day; Demographics: 62% female; 37% male; 47% black, 53% white and other
• 50 paid interns; 80 unpaid interns; 231 applications for summer interns; 96 accepted

The following are processes in place to address recruitment and retention

• Use centralized job postings; reducing redundancies; competitive compensation, benchmarking salaries 
• Structured onboarding and mentorship; regular feedback; leadership development; exit interviews to make sure address problems
• Union/management shared hiring initiatives; fair/transparent hiring criteria; equitable outreach; grievance-informed process improvement; mutual accountability on diversity goals; collaboration on offer and classification of work timelines.

Treasurer’s Office  -- 70 employees; 36 with foreign language, 13 languages

• Vacancy:  4 open; Timeline: 45 days recruiting to onboarding; Demographics: 58 white, 42 minority; 62% male
• Collaboration w/unions
• Work with colleges, Chicago Public Schools, law school fellowship opportunities
• Continuous training and engagement skills

Observer:  Hollis Burgess