January 25, 2024 — New York, NY — Following 90% spike in reported hate crimes, Governor Kathy Hochul proposes major expansion in hate crimes statute and announces $60 million in funding for at-risk groups. (Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)

State officials are weighing a plan to allow migrants who are able to work but lack the necessary skills to temporarily hold jobs with state agencies.

A memorandum being circulated within the state Civil Service Commission and obtained by The Post-Journal earlier this week outlines a plan to create several transitional titles that would allow migrants who have received federal work authorization to hold state positions even if they don’t meet all the necessary qualifications.

“Governor Hochul has taken several steps to address the migrant crisis, including identifying more than 18,000 job openings with hundreds of employers who are willing to hire migrants and asylum seekers with legal work status in the United States,” the memo states. “The governor is also looking for state agencies to participate in this effort. Agencies have identified approximately 4,000 positions, many in hard-to-recruit, entry level titles that can potentially be filled by these individuals and others. … “The creation of these transitional titles is a win-win way for the state and its agencies to connect qualified and motivated individuals with meaningful jobs and opportunity; help solve the migrant crisis; and rebuild the state workforce,” the memo states.

During a state budget hearing Tuesday, however, Timothy Hogues, state civil service commissioner, responded to a question posed by Republican Assemblyman Ed Ra and quickly said while the memo mentions migrants several times, the transitional titles are open to all New Yorkers.

“The one correction I do want to make is these positions, these jobs that will be available are for all New Yorkers, for anyone who meets these qualifications,” Hogues said. “The reason why we needed to do transitional, temporary titles is to give individuals the opportunity to gain the experience or get their paperwork in order to transition into full-time, regular positions. We are excited about this. This is no different than our trainingships or our apprenticeships that we had that allow individuals to upscale or get time on the job to meet the qualifications. This is a bigger part of our holistic approach to opening up government and making these jobs available and reducing the barriers.”

Agencies have said they can’t hire migrants for the open position because they can’t verify their educational attainment, such as high school completion or equivalent education. Many of the state positions require at least a high school diploma or GED. Some of the migrants have limited English-speaking proficiency that is required for some of the positions, according to the memorandum, while state agencies also have a hard time verifying previous employment for migrants.

“I appreciate that clarification because I think reading the memo it obviously talks a lot about migrants and asylum seekers,” Ra said. “Any New Yorker who might lack documentation about credits they’ve had in schooling or things like that would be eligible for these jobs.”

The Civil Service Commission is proposing creating positions in transitional titles with requirements more in line with the candidates’ qualifications. The positions would be temporary, typically created for one-year periods, with state agencies required to come back to the state Civil Service Department to renew job titles that need to be reauthorized. The vacant positions that agencies seek to fill are mostly in the labor and non-competitive classes such as clerical/administrative support, engineering support, equipment service and repair, facilities operations, food service, and human services.

Hogues said the Civil Service Department has worked with the state Labor Department to host virtual career fairs, career fairs, create videos and do other marketing about the open positions, but the jobs remain unfilled.

“The post-pandemic job market, it has changed and so agencies have told us we are having difficulties hiring and the current civil service structure does not lend itself to addressing those emergency needs,” Hogues said.