Hawai'i's top government jobs are proving difficult to fill, in part because of potentially tough confirmation hearings in the state Senate, said Gov. Linda Lingle's chief of staff, Bob Awana, who is handling the hirings.

Six department head and deputy director jobs are currently open. More than 300 additional lower-level job openings also have been posted.

This year, Hawai'i's Democratic majority rejected two of the Republican governor's Cabinet-level nominees: former Land and Natural Resources Chairman Peter Young and Public Safety Director Iwalani White. About 380 other nominees were approved.

"Anybody who saw that would tend to shy away, and that's because from all appearances there was tremendous support from many different groups of people," Awana said. "It's been hard."

Only 13 people applied for the Department of Land and Natural Resources' top job, which pays a $98,838 annual salary, the day after an index card-sized ad was published this month in Sunday newspapers. Ten of those applicants weren't qualified, and the other three are being considered, Awana said.

The governor's office is seeking candidates for DLNR director, land deputy for DLNR, Department of Labor director, deputy director of corrections, deputy of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and deputy director for harbors in the Department of Transportation.

The Senate's confirmation process isn't the only reason for a lack of applicants. Hawai'i's second-lowest-in-the-nation unemployment rate of 2.4 percent and lower pay for state posts compared to the private sector also contribute to the problem, Awana said.

"Our labor market is very tight," said Renee Tarumoto, chief of the Employee Staffing Division in the Department of Human Resources Development. "We still have a lot of opportunities for individuals who are interested in public service."

Openings include engineering, nursing, law enforcement, electrical, plumbing, clerical and professional jobs on all the islands, Tarumoto said.

The state has cast a broad net to recruit people from in-state and the mainland for all available jobs, using Web job search sites, trade journals, newspaper ads and high school visits, said Marie Laderta, director of the Department of Human Resources Development.

"We have a huge variety of jobs, some of which don't even require degrees," she said. "We're the largest employer in the state, and we should be the first choice."

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On the Net:

Hawaii Jobs: http://ehawaii.gov/