ALBANY – New York is facing dual crises, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul: An influx of migrants severely straining government resources and a workforce shortage vexing employers.
On Monday, Hochul announced the initial success of a strategy to address those problems jointly. Speaking in New York City, Hochul said that a state-run jobs portal – seeking to connect employers with asylum-seekers – had already received responses from nearly 400 employers, who have 18,000 jobs available.
“We have a two-for-one solution here,” Hochul said, praising the businesses that responded. “You marry the two together, and you solve the problems.”
On Sept. 20, President Biden’s administration announced plans to grant temporary protected status to an estimated 472,000 Venezuelans who arrived in the country by July 31. The status allows those Venezuelan migrants to live and work in the United States for 18 months. They may begin applying on Tuesday for that status.
Meanwhile, New York State is allocating significant resources to getting the Venezuelan migrants’ paperwork processed, then connecting them to the jobs.
The jobs portal connecting employers and migrants is run by the state Department of Labor.
Hochul said she also hopes the federal government will extend similar rights to people who have emigrated from other countries. She noted there were a significant number of asylum-seekers from nations in Africa, Central and South America, Afghanistan, Iraq and Russia.
According to Hochul, while over 50% of the employer responses came from New York City, many employers from upstate also are seeking to hire asylum-seekers. Of the 400 total employers, 25% are from the hospitality sector, 21% from health or social services, 10% from manufacturing, 5% retail and 5% construction.
Before a political and economic downward spiral, Hochul noted, Venezuela was once a “very prosperous” country whose economy was bolstered by the sale of oil.
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