NYC pushing to hire more workers
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NEW YORK (PIX11) — New York City is scrambling to hire more workers, but there are reports of it taking months just to complete the hiring process for these good-paying union jobs serving the taxpayers.
Currently, there are at least 3,400 non-uniformed civilian jobs open. They are crucial positions that impact city services, from the people who inspect bridges, to social workers, to record keepers.
At city hiring halls across New York City, PIX11 News has seen a noticeable buzz as of late with the city lifting a hiring freeze due to a better-than-expected tax revenue.
Mayor Eric Adams has tried to streamline these hiring efforts by simplifying job qualifications, and setting up one-stop shop events where people can interview on the spot.
New York City launches new website making jobs easier to find
Still, some city agencies can only hire when absolutely necessary, which is known as attrition hiring.
PIX11 News pressed the mayor on Monday about whether he would do even more to hire New Yorkers to serve their fellow citizens.
Adams said he was moving “rapidly.”
“We’re hiring again, we did hiring halls, we’re going to do more. We look forward to bringing in New Yorkers,” Adams said at an unrelated event about delivery wages.
A quick search of the city job website shows positions like a custodian for the Department of Health paying up to $50,000 per year — a bookkeeper for the NYPD could make up to $62,000 — and a housing assistant for NYCHA could make up to $69,000.
However, the New York City Council said that despite recent efforts, these crucial positions are not being filled quickly enough.
“Saying the hiring freeze is over and actually hiring people or two different things,” said New York City Council Finance Chair Justin Brannan. “I think we are still seeing a super slow, like molasses pace of hiring workers. We hear that directly from commissioners who are desperate to hire up and staff up.”
Brannan said one of the biggest deterrents is that it routinely takes up to six months to complete a hiring process.
“Even now when we are really desperate for workers, it has not been expedited in any way,” Brannan said.
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