fill a vacancy

Meaning

This phrase means to hire someone to occupy an empty job position or role within an organization. It is widely used by recruiters, HR professionals, and managers when discussing hiring needs. The tone is neutral and highly practical for workplace contexts.

Examples

• The HR department is working hard to fill a vacancy in the marketing team.

  The HR department is working hard to fill a vacancy in the marketing team.

• It took us over three months to fill a vacancy for the senior developer role.

  It took us over three months to fill a vacancy for the senior developer role.

• We need to fill a vacancy quickly before the busy season starts next month.

  We need to fill a vacancy quickly before the busy season starts next month.

• Are you planning to promote internally to fill a vacancy, or hire externally?

  Are you planning to promote internally to fill a vacancy, or hire externally?

• They decided to freeze hiring instead of trying to fill a vacancy left by Sarah.

  They decided to freeze hiring instead of trying to fill a vacancy left by Sarah.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ We need to make a vacancy full.

  ✓ We need to fill a vacancy.

  The correct collocation is 'fill a vacancy.' You do not 'make a vacancy full.'

• ✗ They hired a new manager to fill an empty place.

  ✓ They hired a new manager to fill a vacancy.

  While 'empty place' is understandable, 'fill a vacancy' is the standard, professional collocation in business.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The company is looking for a qualified candidate to ___ in accounting.

  💡 Hire someone for an open job.

  Show answer

  fill a vacancy

• It's difficult to ___ when the required skill set is so specialized.

  💡 Find a person to take an open position.

  Show answer

  fill a vacancy