New York state government has relaxed the minimum requirements for some entry-level jobs that are hard to recruit for, with the goal of opening thousands of positions to new migrants facing barriers to employment.
The state Civil Service Commission approved the plan, which is backed by the Hochul administration and will potentially make thousands of jobs available to migrants, at a special meeting on Jan. 18. It would partly address migrants’ and migrant advocates’ persistent complaint that more needs to be done to get new arrivals working.
“As I’ve talked about the migrant crisis…I say we have a dual crisis,” Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters after an unrelated news conference in Albany, noting that more than 170,000 migrants have entered the state since the spring of 2022.
“It’s a capacity issue,” she added, pointing to the challenges of providing for so many migrants in New York City and other communities. “But also I have a shortage-of-worker crisis.”
The state’s unemployment rate was 4.5% in December.
The civil service panel, which controls state agency staffing, created seven “transitional” job titles that would apply to 4,000 hourly positions for food-service workers, office aides, custodians and others, according to a memo from commission leaders. Bloomberg first reported on the initiative.
The new job roles would be temporary, and would not change the requirements for permanent positions. Agencies have identified several potentially restrictive requirements that could be dropped in some cases, such as the need to verify workers’ education level or previous employment, or their ability to speak English, according to the memo.
Must have legal working status
The Hochul administration stressed that the new job titles would be open to everyone with legal working status – including citizens, green card holders and asylum-seekers with working papers. The policy has not yet been implemented, according to Hochul spokesperson Avi Small.
New York…
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