City of Oklahoma City offers signing bonuses for hard-to-fill positions

Last Updated on October 18, 2021, 3:54 PM | Published: October 18, 2021

OKLAHOMA CITY (Free Press) — The City of Oklahoma City is using bonuses as one way of competing in the labor marketplace to hire persons who can hold positions that the City is finding slow to fill.

Those bonuses range from $2,500 to $5,500 for 24 job classifications. A news release from the City states that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has Oklahoma City and Salt Lake City tied for lowest unemployment rate reported for large metropolitan areas across the nation.

“We have an unprecedented number of job openings right now and are facing similar challenges in recruiting and retaining employees as other industries and job sectors,” City Manager Craig Freeman said.

“We have spent months listening to potential, current and previous employees as well as leadership in all City Departments and believe if we can recruit quality people into these hard to fill positions, we anticipate they will stay and grow in our organization.”

In Oklahoma City’s “weak mayor” form of government the mayor and council members are prohibited from having anything to do with hiring and firing city employees except for the City Manager. Instead, the City Manager and staff are responsible for those activities.

You can log on to okc.gov/careers to review job openings and submit applications.

Jobs with bonuses

New employees hired into these job classifications will qualify for the bonus up front as long as they sign an agreement requiring them to repay the money if their employment ends before the end of their probationary period. Probationary periods vary based upon job classification.

Here are the job classifications with signing bonuses:

$2,500

• 911 Dispatcher I – Trainee
• Animal Welfare Officer I  
• Animal Welfare Representative
• Civil Engineer II
• Collection and Distribution Trainee – Technician
• Crew Worker II
• Grounds Maintenance Operator I – Trainee
• Meter Reader
• Plant Operator III
• Police Report Clerk
• Program Planner
• Refuse Collector Trainee

$3,000

• Construction Equipment Operator I
• Construction Equipment Operator II
• Grounds Maintenance Operator II

$4,500

• Building Heat and Air Mechanic
• Building Inspector, Provisional
• Industrial Electrician
• Veterinarian

$5,000

• Fire Apparatus Mechanic
• Master Mechanic
• Skilled Trades Worker

$5,500

• Fire Recruit
• Police Recruit

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