More than 250,000 have made use of New York City’s Workforce1 Career Centers since the start of the Adams administration in 2021, the city announced this week, and more than 80,000 have been connected with new high-paying jobs through the centers.
The centers provide myriad services like job placement, coaching, training and resume workshops, and partner with various city agencies and private sector partners as well as the New York City Office for Talent and Workforce Development.
At a Sept. 9 Jobs NYC Hiring Hall at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Dynishal Gross, commissioner of the city’s Department of Small Business Services, noted that Workforce1 career centers, hiring halls, and job fairs had connected thousands of New Yorkers who live in areas with the highest unemployment to economic opportunities.
“Since the start of [Jobs NYC Hiring Halls] in 2024, more than 14,500 New Yorkers have attended a hiring hall, resulting in more than 4,500 on-site interviews and over 2,000 conditional job offers,” Gross said.
Gross also announced the expansion of the Jobs NYC Initiative with community-based partners like Bronx Tech Hub, which is launching a six-week program training in AI prompt engineering; the Inspired Community Project, which will fund the Behavioral Health Apprenticeship Program to support current apprentices with paid clinical training, weekly instruction, mentorship, and certification; and Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow, which will launch an HVAC Renewable Energy & Sustainable Construction program for 35 trainees.
“Between SBS’s commitment to providing free, transformative training programs, expert services to connect New Yorkers with career opportunities in high-growth and in-demand industries, and helping small businesses to hire locally, we continue to work to drive unemployment down and push record high labor force participation,” Gross said.
Gross said the city is also on track to fulfill its goal of connecting 2,500 New Yorkers with disabilities to jobs by July 2026. During Disability Pride Month, Mayor Eric Adams announced that more than 1,350 New Yorkers with disability had been connected to good-paying jobs.
Additionally, the New York City Office for Talent and Workforce Development reported that the city is on track to meet Adams’ goal of providing apprenticeship opportunities for 30,000 New Yorkers by 2030 through its “Apprenticeship Accelerator” program. So far, officials said, NYC Talent has connected 15,000 New Yorkers with learn-and-earn models, creating a career pathway for students and young people.
“These new announcements today and investments that the commissioner just mentioned are really exciting and really a step in hitting NYC talents,” said Doug Lipari, executive director of NYC Talent. “This announcement today and the work that is here behind us is just part of the really long milestones, a list of accomplishments that reflect the whole of government approach to workforce development.”
Tondaliyah Robinson told Brooklyn Paper she worked with Workforce1 to find her current role.
Robinson connected with Workforce1 in 2016 at a job fair at Monroe College in the Bronx, where she obtained her associate degree in Human Services.
After Workforce1 helped Robinson rebuild her resume and boost her interview confidence through its readiness workshops, she got a job in the fast food industry, she said.
In 2022, Robinson obtained her bachelor’s degree in Human Services. The same year, with the support of Workforce1, she got a job with the Children’s Rescue Fund, starting as a case manager and working her way up to case management supervisor.
Workforce1 empowered Robinson to build skills and helped her reach long-term goals, she said.
“I used to be really shy, really timid, and I used to be really scared of public speaking or just speaking in an intimate setting with people, because I would always get caught up in my words,” said Robinson, whose long-term career goal is to become a program director. “I know that if anything I ever need, as far as employment or resume or interviews, I will always go to Workforce1, because not only do you have that support with getting a job, they make sure that you have all the steps and tricks you need to actually get the job.”
Gross said some job seekers become discouraged after sending out resumes online and never receiving a response.
“So to have a system that meets all adult New Yorkers’ needs, whether they’re ready for work or they have barriers to get ready for work, and helps them prepare to put their best foot forward when they have that chance to interact with an employer and really express why they’re the best pick for them, it makes a huge difference,” she told Brooklyn Paper.
Employers also benefit from the programs SBS offers, Gross noted.
“We’ve had more employers in our system in the last fiscal year than we did in the prior fiscal year,” she said. “We know employers want to hire, and for small businesses, who you hire is going to have a huge impact on your business. To have a system that helps you screen multiple qualified candidates so you can pick the absolute best match, it’s a service for the employers as well.”
