The City of Manteca continues to struggle to fill jobs.

There are currently 47 vacant jobs among a budgeted municipal workforce of 412 positions.

That reflects almost a 12 percent shortfall in needed municipal workers.

Keep in mind that last June department heads did not receive funding for roughly three dozen more positions they identified as critical to either maintain current service levels or to address initiatives that the council wants to see advance in a timelier manner.

Interim City Manager Toni Lundgren said the citywide workforce has stepped up to help keep Manteca moving forward while dealing with a difficult job market.

Manteca’s problems are similar to what other cities are currently facing.

The biggest challenges are securing qualified applicants for jobs in areas where the private sector is paying significantly more such as for engineers and those with accounting and finance skills.

In some instances, in the past year in order to fill extremely specialized and critical positions such as for specific operating jobs at the wastewater treatment plant that have a dearth of qualified applicants, the city has had to bump salaries offerings upward.

Addressing wage adjustments in the coming budget is expected to be a key concern not only to attract qualified candidates but to retain the existing workforce.

Lundgren during Wednesday’s workshop said the goal is to secure two-year contracts with bargaining groups now that the city has almost caught up on all back audits.

Manteca’s current 412 funded positions is 18 less than the 430 the city had budgeted in 2008 when the Great Recession hit.

The city now has 90,000 residents compared to 64,979 in 2008.

The city by 2011 eliminated 88 positions and reduced spending by $14.1 million a year to keep expenditures within the revenue that was coming in after property and sales tax took big hits during the Great Recession.

Manteca had 388 municipal workers and 67,749 residents in 2011.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com