Houston's city-wide hiring freeze will go into effect Monday, March 9, according to city officials. The decision comes in response to findings from an audit conducted by accounting firm Ernst and Young.

Mayor John Whitmire said Houston's citywide hiring freeze will address overstaffing while exempting public safety departments.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire is planning to implement a hiring freeze in the coming days that will impact all city departments except fire and police, a city spokesperson confirmed. While an exact timeline has not been decided on,

Whitmire wants to implement a hiring freeze in the city government. As of September, the city had nearly 5,000 vacant positions.

The mayor told ABC13 that public safety, including Houston's fire and police departments, will be spared, but all other departments will be subject to the hiring freeze.

Mayor John Whitmire is expected to implement a hiring freeze later this month in Houston to improve the city’s efficiency, his spokesperson, Mary Benton confirmed with Community Impact.

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