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.

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

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,

Houston will implement a city-wide hiring freeze beginning tomorrow, Mayor John Whitmire confirmed to KHOU 11 Thursday. The decision comes in response to findings from an audit conducted by accounting firm Ernst and Young.