NEWS RELEASE: City of San José Human Resources Department Named 2026 Agency of Excellence

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City of San José Human Resources Department Named 2026 Agency of Excellence
National Public Sector Human Resources Association recognizes innovative workforce initiatives

SAN JOSE, Calif. (October 5, 2026) - The City of San José's Human Resources (HR) Department has been named the recipient of the 2026 Agency of Excellence Award - medium agency - by the Public Sector Human Resource Association (PSHRA). The national award recognizes public sector human resources organizations that demonstrate exceptional leadership, innovation, and excellence in advancing their workforce beyond the standard expectations of government human resources programs.

"The Agency of Excellence Award highlights the City's ongoing commitment to Making San José a Great Place to Work - one of my Foundational Strategic Support Focus Areas," says City Manager Jennifer Maguire. "I am proud of our HR Department for their innovative, forward-thinking commitment to supporting our nearly 7,000 employees, ensuring they are prepared, well-resourced, and empowered to deliver exceptional service to our community."

The City's HR Department provides services across the full employee lifecycle, including recruitment, workforce development, classification, employee benefits, health and safety, leadership development, and strategic workforce planning.

The Agency of Excellence Award recognizes the department's integrated approach to building the public sector workforce of the future through three major initiatives: One Team, One City, One Community Day of Service; the newly reimagined Supervisory Leadership Program; and AI and the Workforce of the Future. Together, these initiatives demonstrate how the department is moving beyond traditional compliance and transactional functions to serve as a strategic partner in innovation, service delivery, culture-building, leadership development, employee engagement and retention, and long-term workforce readiness.

"We are striving to shape the workforce of the future in San José - a workforce that is innovative, technologically adept, yet fundamentally service-oriented - so we are thrilled to be recognized for the very initiatives we had designed to advance that core goal," said Director of Human Resources Aram Kouyoumdjian.

About the City of San José
With almost 1 million residents, San José is one of the most diverse large cities in the United States and is Northern California's largest city and the 13th largest city in the nation. San José's transformation into a global innovation center has resulted in one of the largest concentrations of technology companies and expertise in the world.

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