St. Louis Mayor Announces End of Hiring Freeze on Non-essential Employees

ST. LOUIS, MO. – Today, Mayor Tishaura O. Jones followed through on her commitment to end the City’s hiring freeze on non-essential employees after the Missouri General Assembly adjourned Friday, May 17, without damaging the City’s ability to collect an earnings tax.

“I’m happy to lift the hiring freeze on non-essential employees today,” said Mayor Jones. “The City of St. Louis is safer and healthier without the harmful interference of members of our state legislature who do not represent our City or its best interests. Our essential services and workers remain funded by our earnings tax.”

To further staff up the city’s workforce, the City of St. Louis launched a new hiring website last week, powered by new software that will make it faster and easier to apply and get hired by the City.

"We are thrilled to implement Taleo within our department," said Sonya Gray, Director of Personnel, in a press release. "This system marks a significant advancement in our hiring practices, allowing us to better serve the City of St. Louis and its residents. The Talent Acquisition team has done an exceptional job, and their dedication is evident in the success of this launch."

The Mayor announced a hiring freeze on non-essential employees earlier this year to protect the City financially from escalating legislative threats to critical City funding. Mayor Jones and members of the administration aggressively advocated against legislation such as HB 1516, which would have defunded our City’s essential services by reducing or eliminating the City’s one percent earnings tax. On April 6, 2021, 79% of City residents voted to approve the continued assessment of the earnings tax, which funds essential services like our SLMPD, fire, prosecution offices, refuse, and streets, among others.

The City continues to monitor the ongoing earnings tax litigation and is prepared to implement any decision announced by the court.

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