LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s corrections department is offering new incentives to try to fix employee recruiting challenges and high turnover rates at the state’s two largest prisons.

The Department of Correctional Services is offering a $2,500 signing bonus to the first 100 new employees hired between Monday and Nov. 17 to work at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution and the Nebraska State Penitentiary.

The department will also pay experience-based merit raises to staff members the Tecumseh prison. Employees with one to three years of service will get a 2.5 percent raise, and the amount will increase up to a 10 percent for employees with more than 10 years of service.

Department officials hope the incentives will help fill open jobs, which could save money by reducing employee overtime costs.