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ST. LOUIS — It’s no secret that City Hall has struggled to hire recently. It has more than 1,500 vacant positions. And officials have given plenty of reasons why: low pay, tough jobs, and, until recently, a residency requirement.

But on Wednesday, the city’s acting personnel chief offered a new one — departments aren’t calling candidates back.

Acting personnel director Sylvia Donaldson told an aldermanic committee on Wednesday that her Personnel Department is working to relieve staffing shortages that have hobbled trash and recycling pickup, tree-trimming, vehicle towing, ambulance response and jail operations in recent years.

It’s getting applications in and sending other departments requested lists of names to fill vacancies. But then, three weeks later, personnel workers are finding that lists haven’t been reviewed and applicants haven’t been called, Donaldson said.

“We do send significant numbers of applicant names to operating departments, and for whatever reason, they don’t call the people,� she said. “That’s very common.�

And when departments finally do call applicants, Donaldson said, the people have moved on to other jobs or are no longer interested.

“To be frank, when we send lists of names, we need for the people to be interviewed,� she added.

Donaldson’s comments troubled Alderwoman Cara Spencer, the budget committee chair. She asked Donaldson for data on who isn’t making calls.

Donaldson said she could put that together. “We can pull that for some specific ones that are particularly problematic,� she said.

Still, Donaldson told aldermen that the personnel department is making progress in some areas, despite an overall vacancy rate of around 27%.

The city has hired more people than it has lost so far this year. Retention rates for new hires in key jobs — tree trimmers, police officers and utility workers — looked good through August.

The city is also awaiting the results of a salary study that could help it better understand what it needs to pay to attract and keep workers. And Donaldson said her department is also working to revive exit interviews so they can understand why people leave city employment.

“We absolutely just do not know why people are leaving, and why people are leaving at the intervals they do,� she said.

The update comes at a turbulent time for the personnel department.

Donaldson is the acting director because the appointed director, Sonya Jenkins-Gray, is on medical leave for a stress-related issue. And aldermen recently authorized a state audit of the department in response to whistleblower complaints of mismanagement.

Donaldson said Thursday that Jenkins-Gray remains on medical leave. Officials have not said when she will return.