City Council Positioned to Lead Jobs Recovery

Graduates of Riis Settlement's English classes. Riis Settlement recives funding through CWE and the City Council's Worker Service Center Program

As the COVID wave washed over New York City in 2020, it laid bare longstanding racial inequities as immigrant neighborhoods and communities of color suffered the highest infection rates and fatalities. These same communities have faced increasing unemployment and underemployment during the pandemic and need government investment that prioritizes good jobs for their residents.

The New York City Council has been a leading voice for New York City’s forgotten workers. The City Council founded three programs, Jobs to Build On, Worker Service Centers, and Immigration Protection Group, to fund workforce development and protection services for the New York communities most in need. These programs, administered by CWE in partnership with dozens of community organizations around the city, deliver life changing services to thousands of residents every year.

“Consortium for Worker Education is a vital organization that provides services to address a vast array of citywide needs,” Council Speaker Adrienne E. Adams, said in December. “If organizations or individuals have concerns about job training, healthcare, communications and media, computer skills, culinary arts, direct job placement, or other issues, CWE is a great first place to make an inquiry. Their connections and resources are a great help for our communities.”

The Worker Service Centers program provides teachers and funding to community organizations to offer workforce training for New York City residents. The program delivers the basic skills that participants need to advance to industry-specific job training. Worker Service Center classes cover a wide range of topics from job readiness and computer skills to English and cooperative entrepreneurship.

The Immigration Protection Group was founded in response to aggressive immigration enforcement during the Trump Administration. CWE, in partnership with Make the Road New York and a coalition of labor unions and community groups, has provided Know Your Rights training, citizenship classes, and other services for New York’s immigrant communities.

Council Speaker Adrienne Adams tours a Jobs to Build On training site in 2018.

The City Council’s Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus founded the Jobs to Build On program — the first workforce development program in the country created and funded by a legislative body — to provide job training and placement services across the city. The majority of funding is prioritized for zip codes with crisis levels of unemployment, particularly among Black and Latino young men.

The backbone of Jobs to Build On and CWE’s other programs is a network of community organizations with deep roots in neighborhoods across the city. From Henry Street Settlement on the Lower East Side, to SoBro in the Bronx, Urban Upbound in Queens, and Brooklyn Workforce Solutions in Brooklyn, the Jobs to Build On network is able to make sure that City Council workforce training reaches the city’s micro communities that are so often missed.

Residents already trust these organizations and come to them for help with food stamps, child care, or housing. By funding job training and placement services in these same institutions, New Yorkers in need gain access to the support they need to get jobs in family-sustaining careers.

In parts of the city that did not have a history of experienced workforce development agencies, CWE has provided technical guidance and support to build capacity at existing organizations. CWE has knit disparate groups across the city into one network, so they could share best practices and refer clients when another program would provide a better fit. Instead of competing with each other for Council funding, they are able to work together to serve all of the city’s residents.

Tihuan Simpson went from a minimum wage job to membership in the NYC District Council of Carpenters thanks to BuildingWorks, which receives funding from CWE and the City Council's Jobs to Build On program

When New Yorkers walk through the door of a CWE partner, they have a conversation about their life and career goals and the challenges they are facing in getting or keeping employment. Often before they start training for a specific occupation, Jobs to Build On will provide basic job readiness training, which includes topics like conflict resolution and personal scheduling that can make the difference between keeping and losing a job. Participants in Jobs to Build On are also often referred for help with childcare, government subsidies, and counseling so the underlying causes of unemployment do not prevent them from achieving career success.

The City Council’s Jobs to Build On program places trainees into careers in good-paying and growing industries including healthcare, technology, and construction. To date, 20,300 New Yorkers have completed Jobs to Build On training and the program has placed 26,900 residents into jobs with an average starting wage of $18 per hour.

CWE, as administrator and coordinator of the Council’s workforce programs, is able to ensure that public funds and participant progress are closely tracked, while also providing mentorship and capacity building for community organizations in the city’s most underserved neighborhoods.

The coronavirus pandemic is leaving behind historic unemployment in several key New York City industries. The City Council has built the workforce development infrastructure to help New Yorkers get trained, find jobs, and provide for their families.