Though the state work force has shrunk, the California government has employed more than 4,000 new workers, ranging from heavy-equipment operators to a Catholic chaplain, since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he would clamp down on state hiring in November, a Bee analysis of payroll data shows.

The administration has halted 351 hires that state agencies wanted to make since Schwarzenegger's new freeze went into effect, according to the Department of Finance.

Schwarzenegger's hiring freeze has held up better than one instituted by former Gov. Gray Davis.

But the new administration has nevertheless allowed departments to fill thousands of jobs for a variety of reasons. Those include court orders mandating improvements in state services, the seasonal demand for workers such as tax-return processors, and decisions to expand help for consumers in agencies such as the Department of Motor Vehicles.

"You can change the CEO, but you're still in the same line of business," said Jean Ross, director of the California Budget Project, an organization that advocates for low-and middle-income families. "When you're put in charge of running the business, you realize that sometimes there are workers who are needed to provide essential services to avert more costly situations and to do the job that the public expects state government to do."

Not all of the hiring was under the administration's control. The State Compensation Insurance Fund, which provides workers' compensation insurance to companies that have a hard time getting it in the private market, hired 600 employees. That fund is self-supporting, and its hiring is done independently. Other hiring was done in departments that do not spend money from the general fund, the state's main bank account.

And sometimes the administration simply wanted to expand state services. That was the case with the Department of Motor Vehicles, which has hired 168 people and is authorized to add another 232 to decrease waiting time for motorists.

H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the Department of Finance, said the administration has allowed state agencies to hire new employees to comply with the law, help collect revenue or enhance public safety.

"The number of filled positions in state government has been on the decline each and every month since the hiring freeze has been in effect," he said.

The overall size of the state work force has dwindled during Schwarzenegger's tenure because the state's hiring has not kept pace with the number of workers who have left due to budget cuts and normal turnover. The state now has 222,353 permanent and temporary workers, 3,465 fewer than the November payroll of 225,818.

The state's monthly payroll has dropped about $9 million since Schwarzenegger took office, according to an analysis of data from the state Controller's Office. The total monthly payroll for full-time workers is about $870 million, the analysis showed.

The state has been under a hiring freeze since Davis first imposed one in October 2001. But a 2002 Bee analysis found the state was still employing about 1,800 new workers a month after Davis' freeze began. State hiring has been closer to 1,000 workers monthly under the Schwarzenegger administration.

About half of the new hires are full-time, permanent employees. The rest are temporary or seasonal workers, such as tax-return processors and California Conservation Corps participants.

About 100 of the people who were recently added to the payroll make more than $100,000 a year, including several top Schwarzenegger administration officials, medical personnel and directors of various departments. The average annual cost of each state employee, including benefits, is about $67,000.

The hiring controls are happening as the state also attempts to close its $15 billion deficit by cutting back on the total number of positions in state government. Last year's budget included the elimination of 9,300 state jobs.

The cutbacks have had an impact on state services, causing longer wait times in government offices and less oversight of businesses ranging from food-processing plants to nursing homes.

But so far, most of the staff reductions have been achieved by eliminating vacant jobs, not by laying off workers.

So far, about 878 workers have been given final layoff notices, said Lynelle Jolley, a spokeswoman for the Department of Personnel Administration. Of those, 217 people were demoted and 391 were either transferred to another job or decided to retire. Only 270 have actually been laid off, Jolley said.

J.J. Jelincic, president of the California State Employees Association, the state's largest public employee union, said his members have seen their workloads grow since the hiring controls began. Membership in the union has also dropped since November - from 92,095 before the Davis hiring freeze in 2002 to 88,255 today.

"They have stretched the state work force so thin that they absolutely have to replace some of us," said Jelincic, whose members are forgoing a day of pay each month to help the state avoid more layoffs. "The state either has to acknowledge that it is going to reduce the level of service or they're going to have to add staff."