City of Long Beach Civil Service Department Merges with Human Resources Department

LONG BEACH — The City of Long Beach has announced the merger of the civil service department with the human resources or HR department to form one hiring department following the voter approved passing of charter amendment Measure JB in November 2024. This merge, which officially went into effect May 6, 2025, streamlines and modernizes the city’s hiring processes to create a more efficient, community-centered, and responsible city government that supports merit-based hiring practices to attract, retain and develop high quality, diverse talent and improve the quality of public services to the community it serves.

The new singular and restructured HR department will manage all employee recruitment and hiring processes, implement local preferences in the classified service, and achieve a goal of hiring most positions within 90 business days. Additionally, as part of Measure JB, an independent civil service employee rights and appeals commission was established. This new commission, which will be in effect starting July 1, will adjudicate classified employee disciplinary appeals and resolve complaints regarding the civil service rules. More information about this commission will be announced by the city at a later date.

The city also established a new talent management bureau within the HR department to include both classified and unclassified positions and further streamline and strengthen its recruitment efforts. The majority of transferred employees and resources were placed in the talent management bureau to enhance collaboration and better serve departments’ hiring needs. All former civil service employees employed at the time of the merger remain employed in the city and were offered jobs either in human resources or other departments, as agreed to during the implementation plan.