UNM Staff Hiring Incentive Program (HIP)
The University of New Mexico (UNM) Hiring Incentive Program (HIP) is a university-wide initiative designed to attract and secure top-tier talent for staff positions that are deemed critical, hard-to-fill and experience significant recruitment challenges. This program helps address recruitment challenges and supports the university’s strategic goals in workforce excellence, operational continuity, and service delivery.
This program is designed to:
- Attract qualified candidates to critical and hard-to-fill roles.
- Reduce time-to-fill and vacancy duration.
- Support departmental continuity and service delivery.
- Enhance UNM’s position as an employer of choice in New Mexico and nationally.
Eligibility Requirements and Exclusions
To be eligible for a hiring incentive, a position must meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Specialized skills, licensure, or certification requirements.
- High market demand and external competition.
- Critical business or operational needs.
- High turnover, failed searches, or prolonged vacancies.
- Competitors regularly offer hiring incentives for similar roles.
Hiring incentives are not available for:
- Temporary, pooled, or on-call staff positions.
- Non-competitive or direct appointments.
- Faculty, student employees, or other non-staff classifications.
Types of Hiring Incentives
Hiring Incentives may be applied either broadly to a position classification across a School/College/Division, or specifically to an individual recruitment.
Hiring Incentive for a Position Classification
To address recruitment challenges within a classification(s), a College/School/Division may request a hiring incentive to be uniformly applied to all requisitions posted for that classification. Once approved, the hiring incentive will remain in effect for every requisition within the College/School/Division for twelve (12) months to ensure continued effectiveness. The hiring College/School/Division may request beyond 12 months by submitting a new Hiring Incentive Request form.
Hiring Incentive for a Specific Recruitment
To address recruitment challenges for a specific recruitment, a College/School/Division can request a hiring incentive on a recruitment-by-recruitment basis. The hiring incentive will remain in place only for the specific recruitment identified in the approved request.
Funding the Incentive
Hiring incentives are provided as lump sum payments offered to attract qualified candidates hired into approved classification positions or for a specific recruitment.
Hiring incentives are fully funded by the department. It is the responsibility of the requesting department and Level 3 organization to ensure that funding is available to cover the incentives for approved classifications in competitively filled positions.
Requesting a Hiring Incentive and Payment Information
- Process for requesting a Hiring Incentive
- Hiring Incentive Request Form
- Payment Structure
- Processing Payment
- Tax and Payroll Implications
- Repayment
The Division of Human Resources reserves the right to evaluate, modify, interpret, suspend, or terminate this program at any time, with or without prior notice, at the discretion of the Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer, or their designee.
Frequently Asked Questions
HIP is a university-wide initiative designed to attract and secure top-tier talent for staff positions that are deemed critical, hard-to-fill and experience significant recruitment challenges. This program helps address recruitment challenges and supports the university’s strategic goals in workforce excellence, operational continuity, and service delivery.
Yes, it is a university-wide initiative, including central, HSC and branch campuses.
A position must meet one or more of the following criteria: Specialized skills, licensure, or certification requirements, high market demand and external competition, critical business or operational needs, high turnover, failed searches, or prolonged vacancies and competitors regularly offer hiring incentives for similar roles.
Hiring incentives are provided as lump sum payments and are fully funded by the department. It is the responsibility of the requesting department and Level 3 organization to ensure that funding is available to cover the incentives for approved classifications in competitively filled positions.
Incentive payments are subject to taxes and will be reported on the employee’s W-2. These payments are not considered salary for the purpose of determining employee retirement board (ERB) contributions. Employees are encouraged to consult a tax professional if they have questions or need additional guidance.
The hiring department should include the payment installment details from the approved Hiring Incentive Form in the Offer Letter Details section of UNMJobs. HR will use this information to process the incentive payments under an H suffix when the hire is entered into Banner.
No. The hiring incentive must be approved before the position is posted, as outlined in the “Requesting a Hiring Incentive” link above.
Yes. If the employee separates from the position within six (6) months of their position start date, where the hiring incentive is paid, the College/School/Division on behalf of the University will recover the repayment of the issued incentive payment by coordinating with Payroll. The applicable repayment provision will be clearly stated in two places: The Hiring Incentive Request form - submitted at the time the position is posted and the formal Offer Letter – issued to the candidate by HR Talent Acquisition.
Yes, any unpaid portion of the incentive will be forfeited if the employee leaves the position. This applies to incentive payments that are distributed in two installments and may be future dated.
Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case, non-precedent-setting basis with advanced approval by Human Resources.