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BART Struggles To Fill Engineering Jobs

OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Jobs paying six figures? Most people would love to sign up.

But Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) doesn't have enough engineers to handle its growing workload and is having a problem filling dozens of openings for engineers.

BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said recruitment has been "a huge challenge."

Even at salaries of $100,000 a year, plus benefits, BART can't seem to attract recruits for over 200 open positions in maintenance and engineering.

Trost said BART is competing with the Bay Area's high-paying technology companies.

BART board president Tom Radulovich said, "And it's hard to get people to move to the Bay Area … because of the expensive housing here."

Radulovich said that because BART cut its human resources department "to the bone back in the recession," recruitment has been very difficult.

So now BART is even short on the people who do the hiring.

It's so bad that that BART is paying private headhunters $500,000 to help find the computer, mechanical, environmental and system engineers that BART needs.

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