City of Portland freezes hiring process for 600+ positions, including new city admin

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The City of Portland is facing a budget challenge. In response, administrators are cutting down on hiring, overtime, and reclassifications for the rest of the fiscal year.

As of Sept. 5, there are roughly 660 vacant positions for the city. By not filling these positions, the city hopes to save nearly $6 million of its general fund and up to $20 million of other funds between Oct. 1 and June 30, 2026.

The decision comes as Portland faces a gap in its general fund. According to the city, the decision was made after the Business License Tax revenue came in $12 million below forecast and the city also saw unusually low year-end underspending and a large legal settlement.

“We want to be transparent about both the challenges and the steps we’re taking to address them responsibly,” City Administrator Michael Jordan wrote to employees. “These temporary measures are designed to help us avoid more severe impacts later and ensure we can continue delivering the services our community depends on.”

Frozen positions include the recently opened application to replace City Administrator Michael Jordan, who took over the new position when the government switched its style of government at the start of 2025.

According to the City of Portland, “No new recruitments can begin without an approved exception.”

Exceptions are already in place for frontline police, fire, and 911 roles. An exception process is also being established for other bureaus and programs, but their current status is unknown.

The freeze will take effect Oct 1, 2025, ahead of the city’s annual fall budget adjustment, which will be up for a vote by the Portland City Council on Nov. 5.

This all comes at a time when the State of Oregon is also experiencing an economic slowdown. Oregon’s unemployment rate is currently at 5% and rising, with about 600 people being laid off each month so far this year.

“Forecasters have been very concerned about recession in the national economy. And of course, if that’s happening at the national economy, it would be very unlikely that Oregon could escape such an outcome as well. we definitely had a tough slog in the labor market for much of this year,” said Oregon State Economist Carl Riccadonna.

Thousands of layoffs have occurred this year at companies that do business in Oregon, including at Intel. However, Riccadonna said areas like the service, hospitality and healthcare industries are actually adding workers, labeit they often don’t pay as well as the manufacturing and tech jobs. He said job seekers should look where population growth is happening.

“If we think about what sectors will be thriving going forward, the demographic message does tell us that as we think about the needs around an aging population, that will be a stronger growth sector likely going forward,” Riccadonna said.

Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops.