One is the loneliest number.  Quite often companies and government hold off hiring at the end of the year to avoid filling out multiple layers of paperwork involving taxes. Also with many vacations being taken, the amount of people available to train new employees is limited. So today when I reviewed the job openings for Knox County government I was kind of surprised to see only one job opening.  I contacted the Knox County Mayor’s Office chief communications media liaison governmental affairs specialist Michael Grider for a comment. He stated that Knox County is still in a “mission critical political hiring mode.” He emphasized that the county is not in a hiring freeze. However, the opening of new job posts must go through stringent and meaningful justification on why the position is critical and needs to be filled.