CDC says its hiring plan is "pretty far down the road." The hard part starts the day it is approved.

For months, CDC employees have heard that a hiring plan was coming. On Thursday, agency leaders said it is close.

According to Government Executive, CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz told employees at an October 22 town hall that the agency has selected four permanent center directors, with several still going through security and ethics clearance. Five more candidates for center leadership roles are still interviewing. Schwartz said she hopes that by the next all-hands meeting, "we will be able to announce that all nine positions have been filled."

Sean Slovenski, CDC's principal deputy director and chief operating officer, said leadership is close to finishing a plan to replenish the agency's ranks. "We are pretty far down the road," he said. "Going into the beginning of the year, we're going to be able to move on a lot of that."

Any public-sector HR leader knows what comes next. Once approval arrives, the pressure shifts to recruiting.

What CDC leaders told staff

Here is what Government Executive reported, based on a town hall recording it obtained:

• Leadership seats are being filled. Four permanent center directors have been selected, and five more candidates are in the interview process.
• Acting roles have been widespread. Former CDC officials told reporters in June that over 80% of center director positions lacked permanent leaders. Slovenski said this summer that acting leaders typically do not feel empowered to make decisions with a lasting impact.
• The hiring plan is near. Slovenski said CDC has "made great progress on getting through the initial approvals," with HHS-level process still underway, and "good affirmation" so far on its requests for 2027.
• The gap is large. CDC cut its workforce by about 25%. Citing the latest Office of Personnel Management data, GovExec reported that CDC has made 243 hires since January 2025 while seeing a net decrease of 3,389 employees, and is relying on temporary details to cover some shortages.

GovExec noted that employees have heard hiring plans were in the works since at least March 2026. A plan promised for months creates its own pressure: when it lands, people expect movement. Slovenski told staff, "I think you're going to start to see things move a heck of a lot quicker than they have this past year or so."

Approval is the starting line

Rebuilding after long vacancies is different from steady-state hiring. HR may need to open dozens of requisitions at once, across many offices and job families, while the people who run interviews are stretched thin.

That is where surges stall. Managers wait on HR, HR waits on panels, and strong first-week applicants hear nothing for a month. Without one shared view, leaders cannot tell which roles are moving.

State health departments, counties, universities, and hospital systems face the same moment whenever a freeze lifts or a budget is approved.

A scenario public-sector HR will recognize

Consider a state health department approved to fill 40 positions after a long freeze, from epidemiologists to administrative staff, across six regional offices.

The approval arrives on a Monday. By Friday, HR has 40 spreadsheet tabs, six regional managers emailing about priorities, and a shared inbox filling with resumes. Panels are scheduled one email thread at a time. Three weeks later, the director asks how many offers are out. Nobody can answer without a day of counting.

The approval was real, but the department had no system ready to absorb it.

What to have ready before approvals land

If you are waiting on a hiring plan, do these now:

• Prioritize the requisitions. Decide which roles open first, and which offices own them, before the approval arrives.
• Prepare the postings. Draft descriptions in advance, so posting day is not drafting day.
• Line up panels. Name panelists and set availability windows ahead of time.
• Agree on one source of status. Every requisition and applicant needs a visible stage that HR, managers, and leadership all see.
• Plan onboarding. New hires who wait weeks between offer and start date may accept something else.

Where Pereless fits

A hiring plan tells you how many people to hire. Pereless helps your team see every requisition, applicant, and handoff in one workflow, so a surge of approvals turns into filled seats instead of a backlog.

Pereless Systems is an enterprise recruiting suite for large employers and the public sector. It brings job posting, applicant tracking, interview scheduling, career pages, onboarding, and recruiting analytics into one place, with integrations into the rest of your HR stack. Your team works from a shared pipeline instead of email and spreadsheets, and recruiting analytics help show where each hire is waiting.

Pereless does not set hiring policy, approve positions, or guarantee any time-to-hire result. Your HR staff and hiring officials own those decisions.

FAQ

What did CDC leaders say about hiring?

According to Government Executive, COO Sean Slovenski told staff on October 22, 2026 that a hiring plan is close and that CDC expects to "move on a lot of that" going into the beginning of the year.

How many people has CDC hired recently?

Citing OPM workforce data, Government Executive reported 243 CDC hires since January 2025, against a net decrease of 3,389 employees.

Does Pereless decide which positions an agency can fill?

No. Position approvals and hiring decisions stay with your agency. Pereless keeps the recruiting workflow in one place.

When your hiring plan is approved, be ready to move that week

Once approvals land, there is little time left to build a process. Talk with us about putting every requisition, applicant, and handoff in one workflow before your surge begins.