Marjorie Parker of JobsFirstNYC, and Mickey Austin of PeopleShores, address the inaugural cohort in Brooklyn, New York Collaboration between JobsFirstNYC and PeopleShores Sparking Job Creation in NYC's Neighborhoods with High Unemployment In the bustling streets of New York City, where opportunity often seems abundant, there are pockets of communities grappling with high rates of youth [...]

Despite escalating economic challenges in New York City, an innovative and replicable success story has unfolded in the West Bronx through the Jerome Avenue Revitalization Collaborative’s (JARC) 2023 Internship Program. This internship program has provided a platform for small business owners to work with local college students to support their business needs and ultimately hire […]

The JobsFirstNYC Policy Committee recently convened with the Mayor’s Office of Talent and Workforce Development to learn about innovative approaches designed to broaden and enhance inclusive, diverse, and equitable career pathways for young adults in New York City. The forum highlighted The City’s commitment to fostering career opportunities and invited feedback on Mayor Adams’ ambitious […]

Since 2014, JobsFirstNYC has been a proud member of Aspen Institute Opportunity Youth Forum. The Opportunity Youth Forum (OYF) is a network of over 40 local collaborations in urban, rural, and tribal communities across the United States that seeks to build and scale reconnection pathways that achieve better outcomes in education, employment, and overall well-being [...]

Selecting the best fit postsecondary education or career training program is a complex task. JobsFirstNYC’s work to build career pathways in schools in the Transfer 2 Career Collaborative uncovered insights about the limited awareness of what postsecondary skills training programs provide, what to look for when selecting a program, and how to differentiate between offerings. Though high school [...]

Partnerships that break down barriers and transform systems take a little bit of risk, a whole lot of passion, and a willingness to think outside the box. At JobsFirstNYC, we rely on the transformative power of collaborative connections, for in unity, innovation blossoms — the kind of collective genius that fuels our mission alongside our […]

In 2022, JobsFirstNYC launched a Skills Mapping initiative in partnership with SkyHive to accelerate labor market-responsive training, reskilling, upskilling for New York City young adults and communities that have traditionally faced resource challenges, with the help of ethical artificial intelligence. The Skills Mapping Academy is a capacity-building series delivered by SkyHive’s Training Team and offered […]

JobsFirstNYC was thrilled to host our third annual My City, My Community Social Impact Pitch Competition November 2023 at the FPWA. With representation from the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, the event showcased the immense wealth of young talent within our city. The pitch competition is part of a broader mission for JobsFirstNYC, to continue to […]

November 13–19, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor will spotlight National Apprenticeship Week, a nationwide recognition of the value and success of apprenticeships. This year’s theme, Registered Apprenticeships: Super Highway to Good Jobs, highlights the industry-driven, high-quality career pathways that apprenticeships offer. National Apprenticeship Week is dedicated to highlighting the positive impact apprenticeships have on […]

This past month (September 2023), we experienced the overlap of Climate Week and Workforce Development Month, offering a timely reminder of the pivotal role that our workforce plays in shaping the trajectory of climate action.  Tackling climate change requires more than just technological innovation and policy change; it demands a skilled and adaptable workforce capable […]

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, October 4 , 2023 – JobsFirstNYC, a New York City nonprofit intermediary whose work focuses on creating and advancing solutions that break down barriers and transform the systems supporting young adults and their communities in the pursuit of economic opportunities, announced today that it has received a $4 million gift […]

JobsFirstNYC rallies in D.C. alongside young adults and practitioners from our partner organizations to advocate for policies to improve education, job training, and employment for youth across the country.  According to the July 2023 JobsFirstNYC data brief, there are 138,029 young people aged 16–24 who are out of school and out of work in New York […]

JobsFirstNYC kicked off the first day of its two-day Adapting to the Future of Work convening on July 18, 2023. Designed specifically for young people, the day centered their voices with a special call to action – listen up to diverse experiences and engage with their peers to spark change. After three years of transformative […]

More Findings from Reversing a Decade of Positive Trends: The Lingering Impact of the Pandemic on Young Adults Who are Out of School and Out of Work in New York City In July 2023, JobsFirstNYC, in partnership with Community Service Society of New York (CSS), published Reversing A Decade of Positive Trends: The Lingering Impact […]

In New York City, despite a decade-long trend of increasing gains in the labor market and rising educational attainment, the proportion of 16- to 24-year-olds who are both out of school and out of work has skyrocketed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a trend reversal further pushes this already vulnerable population toward the fringes of [...]

Author: Lilian Roth At JobsFirstNYC, we seek to increase the field’s understanding of trends in the economy and uncover opportunities for deeper investigation and analysis. As AI rapidly changes workforce and education, we’re paying special attention to policies and practices that ensure young adults and their communities can harness these emerging technologies to advance economic […]

One JobsFirstNYC Green Economy Network partner is opening doors for advancement through skills training. Take a peek at how skills training has introduced three New York City women to the green tech job market — and see how one program is working to ensure that they have well-needed support to stay focused on their path […]

As New York City expands its available slots for the Summer Youth Employment Program and other work-based learning, there is a need to build and strengthen employer partnerships to successfully implement these programs. Additionally, employers are searching for qualified young adult workers to fill vacant jobs, and young people can benefit from on-the-job training and […]

Dear Friends and Colleagues, It seems surreal that we are still trying to emerge from the devastation three years after the pandemic first started to wreak its havoc on the world. According to the Office of the New York State Comptroller’s December 2022 report titled, New York City’s Uneven Recovery: Youth Labor Force Struggling, “Unemployment [...]

JobsFirstNYC’s commitment to supporting community partners has paved the way for powerful collaborations with results-driven organizations like Robin Hood, and, in 2021, JobsFirstNYC was selected to be a Brownsville anchor partner for Robin Hood’s Mobility LABs initiative. Mobility Learning and Action Bets – Mobility LABs – is a pioneering, four-year initiative to spur the development […]

JobsFirstNYC convened its first in-person Partnership Forum since the pandemic, with over 80 long-standing and new partners gathering together February 16, 2023 to discuss shared challenges, and unique solutions.  Ensuring that space and opportunities are created to celebrate partnership efforts to build workforce strategies together for young adults and their communities, the forum included time [...]

JobsFirstNYC partnered with Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Deputy Queens Borough President Ebony Young in the inaugural Queens Tech Fair to feature two of its innovative partnerships leveraging new technology and labor market demand for skills-based employment: Skills Mapping with SkyHive, a pioneer of Quantum Labor Analysis® for the rapid reskilling of workers and […]

A sobering end-of-year report from the Office of the New York State Comptroller revealed that a pandemic-weary New York City is still reeling from record-high youth unemployment numbers. According to the report, there are nearly two times as many unemployed younger workers as in 2019. These worrisome numbers have been compounded by a profound skills [...]

Mental Wellness month’s placement at the start of the calendar year is a reminder to prioritize our well-being before taking on all the challenges of daily life. As we rush to meet 2023, let’s remember to keep not only our own mental wellness but the wellness of the communities surrounding us, top of mind. Communities […]

JobsFirstNYC and SkyHive bring skills-mapping technology to enhance job access and streamline skills-based hiring processes for New York City’s workforce NEW YORK, October 5, 2022 – The future of work is skills-based, not degree-based. Imagine being able to build reskilling and upskilling plans for an entire neighborhood, one that showcases the skills currency of that […]

About This Learning Brief Series JobsFirstNYC and New Visions for Public Schools are spearheading the Transfer 2 Career Collaborative (T2C), an innovative career development strategy for New York City transfer high schools aimed at improving the postsecondary and workforce outcomes of students most at risk of becoming part of the out-of-school, out-of-work population. Working across [...]

Last year challenged our North Star to reduce the number of  young people who are out of school and out of work and to improve economic opportunities for them and the communities in which they live. The COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact the lives of young people, hitting those in historically economically challenged communities especially [...]

A National Coalition of Business Leaders Committed to Hiring Black Talent Expands Its Partnership in New York City NEW YORK, April 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — JobsFirstNYC, an organization dedicated to advancing economic mobility for young adults and their communities in New York City, announced today a new partnership with OneTen, a coalition of leading chief executives and their companies […]

Young adults today are seeking multiple pathways to adapt to the future of work while manifesting their dream, and that motivation was evident in the record-breaking 759 young adults who registered for JobsFirstNYC’s seventh annual Adapting to the Future of Work convening on July 28, 2022. Over 40 speakers, facilitators, and workshop leaders, including entrepreneurs, […]

 Shiza Ranamagar is a JobsFirstNYC summer intern. She is a New Yorker and rising junior at Haverford College, studying sociology. Shiza is also a Questbridge scholar and highly involved in her college community. She has been part of the Summer Youth Employment Program since she was 14, and just completed a Ladders for Leaders […]

JobsFirstNYC has announced a new partnership with The New York City Deputy Mayor’s Office of Strategic Initiatives and the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD). The goal is to support the expansion of DYCD’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) in New York City from 75,000 to 100,000 young adults through systemic partnerships and capacity […]

JobsFirstNYC convened stakeholders across its expansive network on February 24, 2022, for its first Partnership Forum of 2022. This forum provided opportunities for learning and sharing amongst training providers, economic development advocates, and young adult workforce practitioners. This Partnership Forum facilitated conversations across multiple JobsFirstNYC solutions areas, sectors, and types of stakeholders working to transform […]

Policy Proposals for Economic Growth and Climate Resilience Building an inclusive green economy in New York City and across New York State requires understanding the knowledge and skills needed to execute climate, resiliency and circular economy priorities most effectively, while also growing a sustainable pipeline of good jobs. This is why in December 2020 JobsFirstNYC […]

In the last few months, we have witnessed a welcomed change in New York City to name and scale a vision for creating career-connected learning and pathways for all our students in City schools. These changes closely align with our work through the Transfer 2 Career Collaborative to embed career pathways in schools via structural […]

Black History Month celebrations have long outgrown the confines of February, the shortest month of the year. Black excellence and advancements happen each day and should be regularly acknowledged. One of the most ambitious plans to elevate the Black community is OneTen, a corporate-led national coalition initiated in 2020. What distinguishes OneTen from similar visions […]

The 2022 commemoration of Black History Month is shining an all-important spotlight on Black health and wellness. As a community ally, JobsFirstNYC supports the call to implement sustainable infrastructure geared to remedy complex issues around wellness that threaten to stifle the emergence of a healthy and prosperous black middle class. At JobsFirstNYC, our mission is […]

Last year challenged our north star to reduce the number of young people who are out of school, out of work and improve economic opportunities for them and the communities where they live. In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact the lives of young people, hitting people in historically economically challenged communities especially hard, […]

If we have learned anything from the Great Recession and its accompanying recovery efforts just a decade ago, it’s that young adult generations that enter the labor market in an economic downturn are at a serious disadvantage, ultimately facing more difficulties in achieving financial security and self-sufficiency like the generations before them. For example, the [...]

Why Diversifying Postsecondary Education Can Create a Better Workforce for New York We taught a professional learning module to New York City Department of Education teachers and counselors. One set the following goal: “To better assist my students to find their passion/career of their dreams. To have a career that they ultimately love.” – NYC […]

On November 15, 2021, President Joe Biden signed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill into law. This historic legislation will fund much-needed upgrades to America’s physical infrastructure and create an estimated two million jobs per year for the next decade.  More specifically, the bill pledges to spend: $1 billion for occupation-specific training through the Departments of […]

As New York City grapples with a protracted economic crisis brought on by COVID-19, city leaders will be searching for opportunities to help spark a lasting economic rebound and regain many of the nearly 500,000 jobs lost since March 2020. One option is to use zoning tools to encourage economic development, attracting private investment at […]

Ryan Craig is the author of College Disrupted (2015) and A New U: Faster + Cheaper Alternatives to College (2018). He is a Managing Director at University Ventures, which is reimagining the future of higher education and creating new pathways from education to employment. This is an Op-ed piece. The views are the author’s and […]

Our latest report, Equitable Recovery for Young Adults: An Agenda for Young Adult Workforce Development in New York City provides a set of citywide policy priorities rooted in the real needs of young people, the perspectives of on-the-ground practitioners, and the literature on successful policies and interventions. It details the changes needed to quickly connect 18- to 24-year-olds to […]

 

An effective workforce development system is key to New York City’s well-being, and this is true now more than ever. Within the first three months of the coronavirus pandemic, unemployment in the city jumped from 3.5% to 18.2%. Even with the economy rebounding in 2021, New York City’s unemployment rate remained at 10.5% in July [...]

Summary and Highlights from Adapting to the Future of Work 2021 Surviving to Thriving  On July 22, 2021, JobsFirstNYC hosted its annual Adapting to the Future of Work convening focusing on young adults. Since its inception in 2016, Adapting to the Future of Work has been centered on ways to generate meaningful discussions about the […]

The number of young adults who are both out of school and unemployed surged during the pandemic after declining for much of the past decade, a new report from the workforce development organization JobsFirstNYC confirmed. The analysis, commissioned by JobsFirstNYC and conducted by the analytics firm Chmura, crunched data from the Census Bureau’s Community Population Survey […]

After declining for years, 18- to 24-year-old New Yorkers out of school and out of work hit a decade high of over 180,000 — 27%. This represents an 80% increase from 2019. That increase eliminated all gains made since 2010. The rise was broad and directly connected to the restrictions and economic conditions brought on […]

JobsFirstNYC is proud to announce the launch of its fifth community place-based partnership, YES Bed Stuy. The partnership had its official launch on Thursday, June 3, 2021, during a virtual event that brought together the 13 organizations that make up the steering committee and the partnership’s Youth Committee members, along with additional community-based organizations and […]

Rebecca Koenig (@becky_koenig) is a senior reporter at EdSurge covering higher education. Reach her at rebecca.edsurge.com.  She is a 2020 Higher Education Media Fellow of the Institute for Citizens & Scholars and was a 2018 fellow of the National Press Foundation.  For decades, companies have offered more or less the same deal to Americans in […]

During his address to Congress last Wednesday, President Biden unveiled an impressive American Families Plan aimed at helping marginalized American families get back on their feet after years of economic struggle, which has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This sweeping plan includes a request for a more than $290 billion investment for higher […]

Lucy Friedman recently completed her term as a Visiting Fellow at The Pinkerton Foundation. She previously served as President of the ExpandED, formerly known as The After-School Corporation (TASC), which was established as a nonprofit organization by the Open Society Foundations in 1998 to increase the quality and availability of after-school programming in New York […]

On Wednesday, March 31, 2021, President Biden unveiled his American Jobs Plan, a $2 trillion investment in physical and social infrastructure improvements, including a $100 billion investment in workforce development. The ambitious, historic plan prioritizes investments in the green economy and in racial equity initiatives, while encouraging unionization and collective bargaining to ensure that the […]

The latest in our Innovations in the Field series is co-published between JobsFirstNYC and New Visions for Public Schools, and tells the story of the first two years of the Transfer 2 Career Collaborative (T2C). What T2C Is In 2018, JobsFirstNYC and New Visions for Public Schools partnered to design and implement an innovative career […]

The Bronx Opportunity Network (BON) is now a member of the Bronx Transfer Affinity Group (BTAG), a group of CUNY institutions working on student transfer between community college and senior college. BON was formally welcomed into the group during their virtual summit on March 19, 2021. A recording of the summit can be found here. […]

While 2020 brought the long-standing, ugly issues of exclusion and inequity to the forefront, 2021 has given us a wonderful opportunity to examine ways to integrate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) into all aspects of our lives, particularly into our workspaces. Companies must all strive find ways to embed the issue of DEI in work […]

The Jerome Avenue Rezoning Collaborative (JARC) that was established in 2020, had its official launch on February 23, 2021. JARC was created in response to one of the most recent rezonings in New York City that spans 93 blocks across Bronx Community Districts 4, 5, and parts of 7. JARC is a workforce and economic […]

JobsFirstNYC is honored to be a beneficiary of Kelley Drye’s Task Force on Racial Equity’s fall fundraising campaign. JobsFirstNYC was chosen alongside the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, and the Equal Justice Initiative, by the task force’s Charitable Contributions Working Group. This Working Group began an intensive, […]

In mid-November 2020, JobsFirstNYC launched our Agenda for Young Adult Workforce Development  with a committee of over 40  multi-sector leaders from across the field. These leaders came together with JobsFirstNYC to create a workforce agenda that would: Provide a citywide policy agenda rooted in the real needs of young people, on-the-ground practitioners, and in successful […]

Why We Continue To Celebrate Black History Month   At JobsFirstNYC, many of the young adults whose lives we aim to help shape are Black Americans, and only recently is the rest of the world getting fully exposed to the depth of their ancestor’s roles and contributions to American society. As we commence the 2021 […]

As the President and CEO of JobsFirstNYC, I feel compelled to comment on the events we are calling the Insurrection of 2021. We don’t usually write about such issues in the political arena, but feel our role as an advocate for young adults of color requires these reflections. The ultimate impact of these events upon […]

On December 3, 2020, the Green Economy Network hosted their second partnership design meeting, focused on the Investigate Phase of the JobsFirstNYC Process. In this meeting, the group explored labor market conditions, market demands, and economic opportunities, and then considered the data in relationship to their on-the-ground experience. The green economy labor market insights were […]

On October 27, 2020, NYC’s first Green Economy Network was launched as part of a broader collaborative effort anchored by JobsFirstNYC, Green City Force, The HOPE Program, and Nontraditional Employment for Women. The initial meeting of this group centered opportunities at one of NYC’s largest drivers of local green jobs, the New York City Housing […]

 Building an inclusive green economy in New York City requires understanding the knowledge and skills needed to most effectively execute sustainability, climate, resiliency and circular economy priorities, while also growing a sustainable pipeline of good jobs. As New York City and State implement plans for climate and equity, the time is now to build […]

While unemployment booms and New York City faces its worst economy in decades, the fate of the city’s disconnected youth — people aged 16 to 24 who are both out of work and out of school — is getting a shrug from city government. The city’s Disconnected Youth Task Force, created by the City Council […]

On Thursday, November 19th, JobsFirstNYC officially kicked off planning for a 2021 Young Adult Workforce Agenda. Our initial planning meeting, which drew over 40 field leaders—from youth and employer intermediaries, philanthropy, and workforce training CBOs and community colleges—focused on the top priorities for the agenda. COVID-19 has further exacerbated the challenges faced by young adults […]

As Mayor de Blasio’s tenure comes to an end and the 2021 mayoral hopefuls begin to campaign in earnest, we have more work than ever to do to ensure that their visions for New York City include a paradigm shift for how we will prepare rising generations for an increasingly changing and demanding economy. With […]

In a recent blog published on Sept 3, 2020, JobsFirstNYC posed the question: With an estimated 27 percent (259,000) to 34 percent (324,000) of NYC Young Adults out of school and out of work, what’s the city’s plan?  The city recently announced that it is proposing to cut programs in transfer schools by 72 percent, […]

Invest in Skills NY shares forward-thinking actions for an equitable recovery Albany, New York, September 28, 2020–The NYS Workforce Strategy Group, a group convened by Invest in Skills NY(ISNY), today released a range of policy, funding, and programmatic recommendations to address persistent labor market issues that were exacerbated by Covid-19. The report, A New Way […]

Bedford Stuyvesant is a hub of culture, talent, and opportunity. While Brooklyn millennials grew up admiring Bed Stuy legends like Biggie Smalls, Yasiin Bey, Jay-Z, Lil’ Kim—and memorized countless songs dedicated to highlighting the ups and downs that Bed Stuy residents experience every day—their beloved neighborhood has seen drastic changes leaving young adults today questioning […]

This policy brief, Accounting for Success: A Blueprint for Measuring the Performance of New York State’s Workforce Development System, focuses on building a 21st-century data infrastructure for New York State’s workforce development system. A unified postsecondary and workforce data system is indispensable for connecting labor supply with labor demand. This need is even more urgent […]

JobsFirstNYC’s partners at the Aspen Institute’s Opportunity Youth Forum estimate that anywhere from 259,000 (27%) to 324,000 (34%) 16- to 24-year-olds across New York City are out of school and out of work.* Just last year in 2019, there were only 129,000 (13%) of New Yorkers in this same demographic.   While the biggest driving force […]

In the wake of the Great Recession, a strong economy made it easier for young adults to find jobs, leading to significant declines in the number and share of New Yorkers aged 18 to 24 who were out of school and out of work from 22 percent (187,588 young adults) in 2010, to 16 percent […]

Led by Invest in Skills NY, the group will present actionable solutions to New York State officials  Albany, New York July 15, 2020 – Workforce development coalition Invest in Skills NY (ISNY) today launched a New York State Workforce Strategy Group to develop clear, actionable policy and funding recommendations for an equitable economic recovery in […]

In the midst of a pandemic that has hit our Transfer to Career (T2C) communities the hardest in terms of health, wellbeing, employment, and security, our high school leaders and staff, workforce training partners, and CBOs have continued to prioritize career development for students. They understand that access to work-based learning, training, industry certifications and […]

A city task force meant to address the needs of out-of-school, out-of-work youth in the city, who pre-pandemic numbered at over 118,000 in New York City, has not yet released its report, over two years after it was due. Now, with over 35% of young adults in the city unemployed and gun violence increasing, advocates […]

At the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King gave his iconic “I Have A Dream” speech, where he asked America to “make real the promise of democracy.” Dr. King said, “when the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, […]

Testimony of Marjorie D. Parker, President, and CEO of JobsFirstNYC before the New York City Council Committee on Economic Development for a Hearing on NYCEDC’s Relief Efforts During the COVID-19 Crisis held on June 24, 2020   Good afternoon Chairperson Paul Vallone and distinguished members of the Committee on Economic Development. My name is Marjorie […]

Good afternoon Chairperson Debi Rose, Chairperson Margaret Chin, Chairperson Ben Kallos and distinguished members of the Youth Services, Aging, and Contracts committees. My name is Marjorie Parker and I am the President and CEO of JobsFirstNYC, a non-profit intermediary that creates and advances solutions that break down barriers and transform the systems supporting young adults […]

Nonprofit organizations and their employees are the essential workers no one acknowledges. Since the pandemic began in early March, they have continued their work without pause, risking their lives to tend to their clients’ needs. Yet despite their sacrifices, the federal government has neglected to provide them with the support they need in federal stimulus […]

Since 2016, JobsFirstNYC has hosted an annual conference for workforce professionals and young adults where we investigated the barriers to and designed solutions for economic mobility and pathways to gainful employment. This yearly event brought out the likes of politicians, activists, nonprofit leaders, frontline staff, philanthropists, and, of course, young adults navigating skills training, education, […]

At least 40 million people filed unemployment benefit claims as a result of the economic disruption of Covid-19, leading some to compare the impact to the Great Depression of the 1930s. Here in New York City a report, “The Early Impact of Covid-19 on Young Adult Workforce Development in NYC,” by  JobsFirstNYC examines the impact […]

A JobsFirstNYC Working Paper The COVID-19 pandemic threatens the health and economic well-being of New Yorkers. It exacerbates preexisting inequities that young adults and their communities have long faced, leaving many with few opportunities to protect their health and continue earning a paycheck to support their families. Prior to COVID-19, while the economy was seemingly […]

The COVID-19 crisis has illuminated pre-existing disparities experienced by under-resourced communities that leave local businesses and residents at a disadvantage to be able to protect themselves, recover, and thrive. Historically, under-resourced communities—particularly communities of color—in the United States have been shortchanged by policies that have displaced and segregated them, creating significant barriers for socioeconomic advancement. […]

If we have learned anything from the Great Recession just a decade ago, it’s that young adult generations that enter the labor market in an economic downturn are at a serious disadvantage, impacting their ability to successfully launch a career and reach financial security and self-sufficiency like the generations before them. Members of the Millennial generation, […]

While the number of young adults who are out of school and out of work has been declining, more than 60 percent of young adults are part-time workers, a trend that has steadily increased since the Great Recession. The anticipated economic downturn from the COVID-19 pandemic will almost certainly accelerate the growth in part-time jobs. […]

This month our nation and our city are facing a public health crisis unprecedented in its scale and dangers. We are heartened to see the many ways that our communities, and our local and state leaders, have leaped into action to try to mitigate the harm of COVID-19 and prepare for its consequences.  It is […]

Dear Partners, JobsFirstNYC has been working with you to address long-standing socio-economic conditions that affect the well being of young adults and their communities. We value your partnership and will continue to do this work together with you. Without your steadfast commitment to connect young people and your communities to economic opportunities and mobility, the […]

March 11, 2020 New York City’s transfer high schools are designed to serve students who have struggled to make progress in traditional high schools. Even with additional help, however, the students enrolled in transfer schools typically face greater barriers to success: Only half of them graduate with a high school diploma, and only a handful […]

JobsFirstNYC has made important strides for New York City’s young-adult workforce for nearly 15 years, and we’re finding new ways to apply the wisdom gained since our inception.    New York City has been the economic capital of the free world for more than a century, home to millionaires and billionaires. But for many years, […]

More Than $1.3 Million Provided to Undertake Community-Based Projects Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced more than $1.3 million in State funding for programs aimed at helping low-income families in the South Bronx break cycles of poverty. The programs funded through the Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative include a digital navigator system to connect low-income […]

The future of work is upon us. We are no longer waiting for disruptive technology to change the way we work or to see how the relationship between employees and employers will evolve. Market shifts, employment models, and workplace practices unfolding around us have serious implications for how we orient our systems to help connect […]

 Galvahn Cepeda, a 17-year old young man, has been gaining work experience and career training through LaGuardia Community College’s Intern & Earn Program, one of New York City’s workforce development supports for more than 136,000 young adults between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither working nor in school. But, on July […]

A task force created in 2017 by City Council legislation aimed at providing better services and more opportunities for out-of-work, out-of-school youth and young adults has been delayed from the start, having met only a few times since its creation and now more than a year overdue in presenting its first report as mandated by law.

Last year, a partnership in New York City—including the NYC Center for Youth Employment, JobsFirstNYC, and Social Finance, with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation and The Pinkerton Foundation—set out to answer one of those simple questions. We had heard, through years of experience supporting the workforce development system, that turnover was a critical issue for businesses. So we asked: what’s the real cost of turnover to employers?

In 2017, JobsFirstNYC worked with the New York City Council to pass resolution 708-A, establishing a task force on disconnected youth charged with developing a plan to reduce the number of out of school, out of work (OSOW) young adults in New York City. This February, the task force convened for the first time. As […]

JobsFirstNYC is a co-chair of the Invest in Skills NY coalition alongside the New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals (NYATEP). Leveraging Opportunity, Meeting Demand: A Blueprint for Building New York State’s Workforce Development System is the Invest In Skills NY’s first policy blueprint outlining strategies for New York State to build a modern […]

An estimated 10% (22,000) of Westchester County young adults aged 16–25 are out of school and out of work (OSOW). Stakeholder engagements in three cities—Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, and Yonkers—have shed light on a significant need for comprehensive social, educational, and employment opportunities for young residents in each city. Further, they have revealed limited coordination [...]

  “I am living my passion. I wake up everyday ready. Do you wake up everyday ready?”   This is how Marjorie Parker, JobsFirstNYC’s President and CEO, welcomed guests at Adapting to the Future of Work: From the Ground Up, a two-day convening for practitioners, policymakers, philanthropic leaders, employers and other stakeholders to celebrate, inspire […]

JobsFirstNYC and Young Invincibles created the Impact Fellowship program to train young adults who are currently part of a workforce development program to lead projects that engage their peers and directly address policy issues in the workforce development field in New York City. One piece of the 12 week program was to have a candid […]

JobsFirstNYC and New Visions for Public Schools are launching a new initiative to transform the school-to-work transition for a set of NYC’s Transfer High School students. Through this initiative, we aim to leverage current and new resources to design and pilot a career pathway strategy leading to degree and credential attainment and employment for NYC […]

The past two years were filled with new learning and impact. JobsFirstNYC’s mission is to leverage all available community, corporate, human, organization, private and public resources to bring out-of-school and out-of-work young adults into the economic life of New York City. In the past two years, our board appointed Marjorie Parker as our next President [...]

Five Partnerships of JobsFirstNYC’s YASEP Network Selected to Baseline, Test, and Strengthen Employer Engagement Capacity   JobsFirstNYC has partnered with the Field Building Hub at Workforce Professionals Training Institute to work with a select group of Young Adult Sectoral Employment Project YASEP member organizations to baseline, test and strengthen their capacity to engage employers, using […]

JobsFirstNYC commissioned and contributed to this study examining how young adults aged 18–24 are faring in the New York City labor market. It provides an analysis of current levels and recent trends in the demand for young adult labor, as distinguished by the employment and wage patterns of the jobs available to young people, and […]

The share of young adults in New York City who are jobless and out of school has fallen over the past five years, according to a new report, owing partly to a rebounding economy and higher college enrollment. But roughly 17 percent of young adults ages 18 to 24, or more than 136,000 people across the city, are still considered “disconnected” — both out of school and out of work.

What is sanctioned legitimacy and why is it the linchpin for community change work? Sanctioned legitimacy means no institution or person can undertake grassroots work effectively and achieve meaningful results unless they are truly supported by the community. Without that sanction, the work undertaken will not have legitimacy, lasting impact or value.

JobsFirstNYC and New Visions for Public Schools present Building Partnerships: Bringing Together Workforce & School Leaders March 6, 2018, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. at UJA – Federation On March 6, 2018, JobsFirstNYC and New Visions for Public Schools hosted Building Partnerships: Bringing Together Workforce & School Leaders, which brought together school leaders—including community-based […]

The Jerome Avenue Revitalization, led by JobsfirstNYC, is convening more than 50 local stakeholders to implement a community-led approach to the rezoning efforts in the Bronx, spanning across 93 blocks the Jerome Avenue corridor. On March 6th, 2018, the Jerome Avenue Points of Agreement were announced and details a strategic plan for investment, including key […]

The young unemployment rate in New York is more than double the overall unemployment rate in the state. So Governor Cuomo is looking to form a new Office of Workforce Development and is proposing $175 million be included in this budget. This has also spurred the creation of the “Invest in Skills New York” campaign, to put pressure on the governor and legislature to make workforce development a priority this session. Joining us to talk more about it are Melinda Mack, the Executive Director of the New York Association of Training and Employment, and Kevin Stump, the Vice President of Jobs First NYC.

Reimagining the School-to-Work Experience for Transfer High School Students   A JobsFirstNYC and New Visions for Public School Convening Tuesday January 30, 2018 from 3:00-5:30 p.m. at New Visions for Public Schools   On Tuesday, January 30, JobsFirstNYC and New Visions for Public Schools co-hosted an event exploring the structural and systemic barriers that students […]

This week, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a $1.5 million new initiative, “CareerLift,” driven by JobsFirstNYC, NYC Center for Youth Employment (CYE), and Social Finance. Supported by an $850,000 grant from The Rockefeller Foundation, the pilot aims to grow targeted opportunities for formerly out-of-school and out-of-work young adults to help them stay employed and advance in their careers.

In a time when more and more training and credentialing is necessary to enter the labor market, Governor Cuomo’s workforce development proposal included as part of his 2018 State of the State symbolizes an important recognition that our economy depends on having a skilled and qualified workforce to meet the demands of tomorrow.

Is America just waking up to the fact that #BlackGirlMagic is real? A few weeks ago the world was raving about the 98% of black female voters that prevented Roy Moore, accused of sexually assaulting teens, from taking the Senate seat in Alabama. The next day titles like “black women saved America” took over the internet. But let’s not forget that black women have been trying to save the world for generations and in some cases only lack the resources to realize true impact.

Marjorie Parker, President & CEO of JobsFirstNYC spoke to an audience of government policy-makers, funders, and practitioners in Toronto Canada in October 2018, as the keynote at the MetCal Foundation’s annual convening. She spoke to JobsFirstNYC’s last 10 years of work, highlighting the LESEN, Youth WINS, and the Seasonal Talent Exchange while pulling out lessons […]

Roundabout Theatre Company and Education at Roundabout have announced a 100% job placement rate for the first cohort of the Theatrical Workforce Development Program (TWDP), the theatre industry’s first workforce development program to train and place young adults in professional technical theatre careers.

Testimony of JobsFirstNYC at the New York City Planning Commission Public Hearing regarding Jerome Avenue Rezoning on November 29, 2017 delivered by Sherazade Langlade, Vice President of Workforce & Economic Development. _____________________________ Good afternoon, Chairperson Marisa Lago and other distinguished members of the City Planning Commission. My name is Sherazade Langlade, and I am the […]

In June, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan to create 100,000 new jobs in New York City over ten years by investing in high-wage industries where there is potential to grow with a boost from city government. The jobs will all pay at least $50,000 per year, he promised.

On Monday morning, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. voted in favor of the Department of City Planning’s proposed Jerome Avenue rezoning with conditions. The Bronx Borough Board voted in favor—and each of the community board representatives involved in the vote have already individually proffered a list of their own conditions.

Testimony of JobsFirstNYC at the New York City Council Joint Oversight Hearing before the Committee on Small Business and the Committee on Civil Service and Labor regarding an Update on Career Pathways / Workforce Development Systems on November 27, 2017 delivered by Keri Faulhaber, Vice President of Partnership and Community Engagement Good afternoon, distinguished members […]

In low-income communities throughout the city that are discussing large development projects or neighborhood rezonings, residents frequently demand guarantees of local hiring. It’s a concern of obvious importance—a matter of ensuring wealth generated by neighborhood change is distributed equitably. And it’s especially relevant where new development threatens to exacerbate displacement pressures for existing low-income residents.

Following the release of Online but Disconnected: Young Adults’ Experiences with Online Job Applications, JobsFirstNYC convened employers, workforce practitioners, policy-makers, and thought leaders to lift up the report’s findings that personality assessments are inappropriate for young adults, unreliable screening tools, and may violate the civil rights of job applicants. Researcher and author, Margaret Stix of […]

In this report, Center for an Urban Future examines the connections and gaps between collaborative initiatives like the Lower East Side Employment Network, East Harlem Talent Network & Good Help. Below is an excerpt from the paper: The Lower East Side Employment Network was formed in part to reduce the competition among workforce development agencies. […]

A minimum wage job with a fast food franchise or a retailer may be short on glamor and pay, but is typically the first rung on the ladder of lifetime employment. National chains now recruit most entry-level workers online, many with applications that include a battery of personality-related questions. These pre-employment personality assessments have become […]

Message from Marjorie Parker, JobsFirstNYC President & CEO  Please fill out this 7 question survey aspart of our Strategic Inquiry process I am pleased and honored to have been appointed as the President & CEO of JobsFirstNYC. In my more than 25 years working in the field wearing many hats in direct service, government, education […]

It seems relatively rare these days to encounter a teenager who spends his or her summer or after-school hours busing tables or working a cash register. And while many have blamed increasing interest in internships or declining work ethic among today’s young people for this trend, a new report points to a different culprit: A dramatic shift in the way employers screen entry-level applicants.

Teenagers looking for work now have something else to worry about. Are they being screened out of jobs they’re qualified for, because they don’t have the right personality? As CBS2’s Jessica Moore reports, some say mandatory personality testing is the problem.

  There are many barriers that prevent people living with disabilities from accessing the employment market, most are often based on misconceptions of a disabled person’s abilities. As a labor pool, people with disabilities are a source of reliable workers, regardless of the nature of their disability. <    Jennifer Mizrahi, President of RespectAbility On […]

With recent changes in technology, including a heavy uptick in automation and the proliferation in machine-learning, the employment landscape has undergone profound changes. As a result, young people are adapting to new realities of the workplace and rethinking the skills they need to compete. JobsFirstNYC’s annual Adapting to the Future of Work: Skills for Tomorrow’s […]

For many New Yorkers, the Great Recession is an increasingly distant memory. Employment in the city has surpassed pre-recession levels, bolstered by more than 312,000 jobs added between 2010 and 2013. Wall Street is enjoying a bull market stretching into its sixth year, and home values across the five boroughs have rebounded sharply. One group of New Yorkers has not shared in the recovery, however: low-skilled young adults. Indeed, their economic struggles predated the downturn, and absent drastic policy changes they will continue indefinitely.

Significant and ongoing changes in the labor market mean that effective workforce strategies must involve new collaborative structures to engage employers more deeply. In order to improve the effectiveness of the workforce system and to improve outcomes for young people engaging with that system, we must turn to new innovations that more effectively address employer’s […]

“No area of domestic policy…has been so thoroughly abandoned to misinformation, overstatement, over-simplification, emotion and disregard for consequences as has the area of juvenile justice.” – Douglas Nelson, Annie E. Casey Foundation In our work as an intermediary bringing together organizations and resources to reduce the number of out-of-school, out-of-work young adults in New York […]

The Seasonal Talent Exchange (STE) was created by four employers in 2015—Modell’s, UncommonGoods, Swiss Post Solutions, and Wildlife Conservation Society, members of the JobsFirstNYC Employer Leadership Council. These employers have a common interest in seasonal workers (and a sizeable seasonal workforce) in positions related to customer service. They value workers who have transitioned from seasonal […]

In a first-of-its-kind report, Comptroller Scott M. Stringer today released a comprehensive neighborhood-by-neighborhood analysis documenting the evolution of New York’s economy since 2000 and the changing business landscape in communities across the five boroughs. The Comptroller’s report, The New Geography of Jobs: A Blueprint for Strengthening Our Neighborhoods, shows that despite tremendous business growth in the City’s rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods between 2000 and 2015, the benefits of increased economic activity have not been broadly distributed among residents of those communities.

On Tuesday, April 18th JobsFirstNYC partnered with Council Member Robert Cornegy’s office to hold a town hall meeting for workforce providers and stakeholders focused on District 36, comprised of Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn exploring workforce and career options for out-of-school, out-of-work young adults in the District. JobsFirstNYC found that Bedford-Stuyvesant continues to be one of the […]

The JobsFirstNYC Board of Directors is pleased to announce that after three years of leadership in the role of deputy executive director, Marjorie Parker has been appointed as Executive Director of JobsFirstNYC, effective July 1, 2017. Over the course of her career, Marjorie has held leadership roles in nonprofit, government, and management consulting. During her time at JobsFirstNYC, Marjorie has overseen the implementation of several […]

Having absorbed the message that college is no longer optional, many high school students today make plans to attend a local community college the fall after getting a diploma. Unfortunately, a sizable percentage of them, especially low-income students—many of whom are coming from underperforming high schools or have struggled to complete high school—encounter myriad obstacles that derail their plans and further undermine their belief in themselves as ‘“college material.”

The President’s FY 2018 Budget Blueprint: Implications for Workforce Development and Education in New York  Last week, the White House released its budget blueprint for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. The blueprint proposed budget cuts for federal spending on many of the education and workforce programs currently serving young New Yorkers. Additionally, it proposes cuts for […]

2017 marks critical political transitions at the local, state, and federal levels. It has never been more critical to propose investments and initiatives that will increase opportunity for young New Yorkers. In our city, more than 180,000 young adults between 16- to 24-years-old are neither working nor in school. In some neighborhoods, graduation rates are […]

In 2010, nearly 188,000 New Yorkers between the ages of 18 through 24 were neither in school, nor working, 22 percent of that age group overall.  According to the new study, by the end of 2015, that number had dropped to less than 137,000, 17 percent of the age group.  The higher rates of connected […]

Youth Services and Finance Committees Joint Preliminary Budget – March 6, 2017 Good afternoon, Chairpersons Eugene and Ferreras-Copeland, and other distinguished Council Members of the Youth Services and Finance Committees. My name is Chantella Mitchell and I am the Policy and Program Associate at JobsFirstNYC, a policy to practice intermediary focused on the issues of […]

One out of four 16- to 25-year-olds in the South Bronx are out of school and out of work, a far higher rate than that of any other area of the city. High school graduation rates in these neighborhoods are as low as 54 percent, compared to 70 percent in New York City overall. Several […]

FORWARD, NOT BACKWARD A Statement from JobsFirstNYC on the Nominations of Andrew Puzder and Betsy DeVos JobsFirstNYC urges the United States Senate to vote no on both Andrew Puzder’s confirmation for Secretary of Labor and Betsy DeVos’s confirmation for Secretary of Education. As an organization dedicated to ensuring that every young New Yorker has access […]

Taleesha Bowrin first saw a little light at the end of the tunnel in 2014. She was out of work, without a college degree, struggling to find a permanent home and trying to raise a young son outside her relationship with his abusive father. Living in New York, one of the most expensive cities in the world, didn’t help.

New York City is allocating over $2 million in grants to increase diversity in nonprofit theaters. The funding, provided by the city’s Theater Subdistrict Council, will go to paid training and mentorship opportunities at organizations like the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Harlem Stage, Roundabout Theater Company and the New York Theater Workshop.

Yesterday, Governor Cuomo announced a proposal to offer free college tuition to State University of New York (SUNY) and City University of New York (CUNY) students whose families earn $125,000 or less per year. The plan would include community college and four-year college students. Governor Cuomo has proposed a three-year rollout that would start in […]

Last Friday, December 16, 2016, JobsFirstNYC held “What’s Next: A Post-Election Discussion”, a forum for national policy experts, public and nonprofit leadership, philantropy, and employers to discuss the economic challenges and opportunities the new presidential administration and congress could present for young adults. The four goals of the event were to: mobilize local, state, and […]

Youth Services Committee Hearing on Oversight – Disconnected Youth: Out of Work and Out of School Int. No. 708 and Int. No. 709 Good afternoon, Chairman Eugene and other distinguished Council Members of the Youth Services Committee. My name is Marjorie Parker and I am the Deputy Executive Director at JobsFirstNYC, a neutral intermediary focused […]

Dear Colleagues, In the days that have followed last week’s historic election, JobsFirstNYC has spoken with the field about what this outcome means for the national workforce and training system, and what opportunities and challenges a Trump presidency presents. In one of our most intense and polarizing elections, we are at a highly uncertain crossroads. […]

The October 2016 OYIF Convening included an Innovation Design Studio focused on lessons learned from the Bronx Opportunity Network (BON). BON is a collaborative of seven Bronx community-based organizations (CBOs) that have partnered with Bronx Community College and Hostos Community College to support opportunity youth in their transition to and through college by aligning programming and partnering with the colleges on fundamental redesign of their practices.

Innovations in the Field is a series examining inventive programs supported by JobsFirstNYC. It has traditionally focused on workforce efforts that serve both employers and young adults in New York City. We are excited to expand its scope with this third installment, which focuses on an innovative college access partnership for underprepared and low-income young adults […]

A new collaboration between ten organizations called “Youth Wins” is looking to develop a strong young adult workforce on Staten Island.

Nearly one in five 18- to 24-year-olds on Staten Island are out of school and out of work. The North Shore of the island – where almost half all Staten Islanders under 24 years old reside – has a higher rate of out-of-school, out-of-work young adults (just over 24 percent) than does any other borough […]

Strengthening Employer Engagement Practices in the Youth Employment Field by: Lou Miceli There has been much recent discussion in our field around “cracking the code” of effective employer engagement. Employers have many options for filling positions, and workforce organizations often struggle to build the relationships that lead even to semi-regular hiring, much less continual placement […]

Good afternoon, Chairman Council Member Daniel Dromm and other distinguished council members of the Education Committee. My name is Chantella Mitchell and I am the Policy and Program Associate at JobsFirstNYC, a policy to practice intermediary focused on the issues of young adults who are out of school and out of work or underemployed. Today, […]

This month, New York City Council Member Brad Lander (District 29, Brooklyn) released a report on New York City’s gig economy. The report detailed the financial and legal challenges many workers often face when engaging with this new economy, as well as the ways the City could improve working and living conditions for New Yorkers who […]

The Wall Street Journal | by Hannah Bloch   “I know the Bronx like the back of my hand,” says Jerelyn Rodriguez. Born to immigrant parents from the Dominican Republic, Ms. Rodriguez was raised in the South Bronx by her mother, a schoolteacher who enrolled her in a KIPP charter school, a pioneering college-preparatory program […]

On July 20, 2016, JobsFirstNYC convened together 175 employers, business intermediaries, trade associations, nonprofits, public agencies, and local philanthropies to consider how New York City businesses can adapt to advances in technology, changing economic trends, and demographic shifts by creating cost-effective talent development pipelines. In partnership with Young Invincibles, we hosted a full-day of panels […]

Yesterday, Mayor de Blasio and New York City Council Speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito announced their agreement on the $82.1 billion budget for fiscal year 2017 that will begin on July 1st of this year. Included in the budget were $42 million dollar Summer and Year Round Youth Employment Programs, which youth employment advocates and the Council have […]

This month, Measure of America, a research project of the Social Science Research Council, issued a report entitled, High School Graduation in New York City: Is Neighborhood Still Destiny?, which documents disparities in high school graduation rates throughout New York City neighborhoods. While the City’s Department of Education regularly reports on disparities in graduation rates by […]

Late last month, the Obama Administration announced that it will launch a grant competition through the Department of Labor for regional sector partnerships among community colleges, public workforce programs, employers, and other training providers to provide tuition-free training for in-demand jobs. The goals of the grant initiative are to: Increase opportunities for underemployed and low-wage […]

New York City Council Executive Budget Hearing – Youth Services – May 17, 2016 Chairman Eugene and other distinguished Council Members of the Committees on Youth, Finance, and Immigration, my name is Chantella Mitchell, Policy and Programs Associate at JobsFirstNYC, a policy to practice intermediary focused on the issues of young adults, ages 18-24, who […]

In its 2015 report, Six Million Missing Jobs, the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce examines the sustained impact of the 2008 Great Recession on today’s U.S. workforce. Among other findings, the report informs us that by 2020, 65% of all American jobs will require some form of post-secondary credential or degree. Last […]

The Lower East Side Employment Network (LESEN) is a collaborative partnership between eight community-based organizations and Community Board 3 that operates in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood to improve connections between local job seekers and employers. While the partnership has been in existence since 2007, its efforts were officially ramped up in 2012 when JobsFirstNYC […]

The Bronx Opportunity Network (BON) is a collaborative effort among a group of seven CBOs serving young adults in the South Bronx, which, in partnership with Bronx and Hostos Community Colleges, has developed a borough-based initiative to increase college access—and to support post-secondary retention—among disconnected young adults. The Network’s mission is to enable under-prepared Bronx […]

The Centre for Social Innovation, a community of social entrepreneurs, nonprofits, creatives and innovators from multiple sectors, is seeking applicants for its Agents of Change program. The Agents of Change Program, sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co., is an annual opportunity for business owners and social entrepreneurs in New York City who are working to […]

On March 7, 2016, JobsFirstNYC and the Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program convened leadership from government, philanthropy, the business community, and the workforce development field in New York City and beyond to discuss the implications of their jointly released paper, Optimizing Talent, the Promiseand Perils of Adapting Sector Strategies for Young Workers.  This paper aims […]

Earlier this week, we celebrated the release of our latest publication, “Optimizing Talent: The Promise and the Perils of Adapting Sectoral Strategies for Young Workers“, which was co-released with the  Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program and written by Sheila Maguire. The release event featured a panel discussion with Laurie Dien, The Pinkerton Foundation; Martin Newell, Cypress […]

  IN THIS ISSUE<   Editorial from JobsFirstNYC State of the Borough New Initiatives   Publications Recent Convenings Conferences Celebrating Our Partners News from the Field< Staff Announcements   EDITORIAL FROM JOBSFIRSTNYC Last month, Governor Cuomo gave his 2016 State of the State and executive budget address in Albany, NY. While the governor announced his plan to expand […]

Last month, Governor Cuomo gave his 2016 State of the State and executive budget address in Albany, NY. There, to a diverse audience of guests, Governor Cuomo announced his fiscal and policy priorities for the new year. He announced billions of dollars in increased funding to address homelessness, as well as the $100 billion dollar […]

Late last year, President Obama announced several changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process for the 2017-18 school year. These changes may impact millions of young adults applying for financial aid. Changes include new submission timelines and new supplemental document requirements. Check out the Federal Student Aid Office’s website here to […]

Long-term self-sufficiency means more than just a job. Those at the bottom of the labor market—especially young adults with limited education who face high rates of unemployment—need in-demand skills, a clear career path, and solid supports.  In recent years, sector-based strategies have yielded promising results for moving low-income jobseekers and workers into living wage positions. [...]

      Young Adult Sectoral Employment Project Expands   Four Workforce Partnerships Chosen to Help Out-of-School and Out-of-Work Young Adults Gain Training and Entry into Different Sectors of Employment in New York City JobsFirstNYC is proud to announce that as part of our local initiative – the Young Adult Sectoral Employment Project (YASEP) – four […]

Dear Friends and Colleagues, One of the joys of preparing an annual report is that it gives us the opportunity to look back and be thankful for all that has been accomplished. The past fiscal year was filled with wonderful opportunity and many challenges. JobsFirstNYC’s mission is to leverage all available community, corporate, human, organization, [...]

In this week’s Partner Spotlight, we are excited to feature a short interview with Gaspar Caro, Coordinator for the Lower East Side Employment Network (LESEN).    What led you to a career working with youth? Growing up in NYC with immigrant parents from troubled Latin America, and a physician father who worked in low-income, southside […]

New York City Council Economic Development & Small Business Committee Preliminary Budget Hearing – January 27, 2016 Good afternoon Chairmen Garodnick and Cornegy, and Committee members. I am Marjorie Parker, Deputy Executive Director of JobsFirstNYC, a nonprofit intermediary focused on connecting young adults to the economic life of New York City. Thank you for the […]

Last week, JP Morgan Chase & Co. announced the launch of its New Skills for Youth initiative, a global, five-year, $75 million plan to expand career-focused education.  It is partnering with the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium to provide select state and […]

​Grace Outreach, a nonprofit in the Bronx that offers education and employment services for women of all ages, is putting together its next class/cohort of women for College Prep. College Prep is an 11 week course of study that helps CUNY-bound women prepare for the remedial exams required for CUNY entry. Grace Outreach also provides help […]

In 2014, JobsFirstNYC issued Unleashing the Economic Power of the 35 Percent, our call to action on four strategies to move young adults into jobs. This concept paper expands upon on one of our key recommendations, Opportunity Centers. A network of Opportunity Centers in the 18 communities that are home to more than half of the […]

In New York City, a staggering number of young adults are out of school, out of work (OSOW) or in low paying jobs. Many supplement with government aid in order to live, with little incentive or motivation for career advancement. Despite the City’s dedicated policies and investments in youth workforce development, only a portion of their programs address these OSOW young adults. Without developing the knowhow or means to change their circumstances, income immobility will become an escalating problem with ripple effects harming the City’s economy for years to come. Jako Borren, Director of Program Operation at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, the nation’s first community development corporation, identifies key deficits, missed opportunities and negative effects of the prevailing ‘transactional’ youth program model.

Innovations in the Field is a series examining programs supported by JobsFirstNYC that serve both employers seeking job-ready workers and young adults in New York City looking to access employment and training opportunities. These programs are innovative in two respects: how workforce providers engage as partners with employers, and how providers collaborate rather than compete with […]

Although New York City’s unemployment rate has plummeted in recent months, economic recovery remains little more than a rumor for the more than 300,000 New Yorkers between 18 and 24 years old who are not in school and out of work or stuck in low wage jobs—a number comprising 35 percent of all New Yorkers in that age range. For this group, the shortcomings of New York City’s workforce system bear depressing similarity to the drawbacks that marred their experiences in public education. Both offer too little relevance to their current challenges and long-term needs.

JobsFirstNYC today launched its first in a series of reports - Innovations in the Field - examining programs supported by JobsFirstNYC that serve both employers that need job-ready workers and young adults in New York City who want to access employment and training opportunities. The series begins with a look at the Young Adult Sectoral [...]

Innovations in the Field is a series examining programs supported by JobsFirstNYC that serve both employers seeking job-ready workers and young adults in New York City looking to access employment and training opportunities. These programs are innovative in two respects: how workforce providers engage as partners with employers, and how providers collaborate rather than compete […]

As the U.S. economy continues to gather steam, the Great Recession is becoming a distant memory for many Americans. In New York City, employment has passed pre-slump levels, with 312,000 jobs added between 2010 and 2013. Wall Street is enjoying a sustained bull market and home values across the city’s five boroughs have risen sharply. Among the New Yorkers not sharing in the recovery, however, are low-skilled young adults. Their economic struggles predate the downturn, and without drastic policy changes could continue indefinitely.

Unleashing the Economic Power of the 35 Percent, along with our 2013 research publication Barriers to Entry, represents a call to action to build a system that gives every young adult an opportunity to earn a wage and participate in New York City’s economy while meeting the needs of the businesses that hire them. An […]

How in the world does a young adult get a decent paying job in New York City? Even college graduates with good grades, experience and connections often have to take unpaid internships to get a foot in the door. What if you never graduated from high school, never had a job and your family knows no one who can help you? How do you convince an employer you’re worth hiring? We’re facing a youth employment crisis—nationwide, 6.7 million young adults ages 18 to 24 are neither in school nor working; 172,000 live right here in New York City.

We all hear about how hard it is for young adults to get a decent job in New York City. Popular TV shows and news stories usually focus on college graduates with great grades and connections being forced to take unpaid internships to get a foot in the door. But the youth unemployment crisis is far more extensive and dire than often depicted. Nationwide, 6.7 million young adults ages 18 to 24 are neither in school nor working; 172,000 live right here in New York City. Many of them lack a high school credential and have limited work experience, making the task of getting a job even more challenging.

A certification program that is the cornerstone of New York’s job-training strategy for young adults is deeply flawed and almost entirely ignored by employers, a report to be released Monday says. The certification program, the National Work Readiness Credential, is meant to help prep young, inexperienced workers for their first forays into employment. Job-training centers that take two major streams of state government funding are required to administer the certification test for the credential and offer eight-week training sessions.

Two years ago, at the urging of many workforce organizations in New York City who raised serious concerns, JobsFirstNYC began research on the effectiveness of the National Work Readiness Credential (NWRC), a key component of New York State’s employment and training programs for out-of-school, out-of-work young adults. Developed by a coalition of five states and Washington D.C, the […]

Connected by 25 | by Ytfg Learning by Connections   Speaking truth to power. This is the kind of leadership we need if we are going to address the youth unemployment crisis. And that’s the kind of leadership Lou Miceli, executive director of JobsFirstNYC, demonstrated in his Huffington Post article No Way to Treat a […]

What does success mean to JobsFirstNYC as an intermediary that focuses on young adults in the field of workforce development? In a time when there is much discussion and debate about the potential transformative power of intermediaries, we feel it necessary to better define what an intermediary is, to describe the kind of intermediary we […]

More than $1 billion dollars has been poured into giving the Lower East Side a face lift, but some residents are not fans of the surgery being performed on their neighborhood. To ease the tension, the Lower East Side Employment Network has been making sure these same residents are the ones holding the scalpel.

Eduardo Bueno landed a job as a hotel bellman in New York this year after finishing a youth employment program that let the 18-year-old practice interviewing and overcome a nervous stutter. With his first full-time position, Bueno said he can help his mother financially and plans to start taking college classes. “My main dream is to get my bachelor’s in hospitality management and become a general manager someday,” said Bueno, who is from New York’s Lower East Side.

Forest Hills Patch | by Nathan Duke   Forest Hills’ Queens Community House has been awarded a grant to develop an initiative that would help young adults find jobs. A collaboration of four borough-based organizations headed by the community house were given the grant through JobsFirstNYC’s Young Adult Sectoral Employment Project, which aims to find […]

A year ago, Luis Vargas seemed stuck in the ranks of New York City’s 172,000 young adults who are not in school or working. Now he’s a full-time pastry chef at fast-growing local restaurant run by EMM Group. Vargas has found his calling in the kitchen, baking decadent desserts like the chocolate brownie cake dished out at Meatpacking hotspot Catch NYC.

We all know there is a youth unemployment crisis, but we don’t know what its impact is on their lives and the choices they are making. JobsFirstNYC has taken a deeper look in their report Barriers to Entry: The Increasing Challenges Faced by Young Adults in the New York City Labor Market written by James Parrott of the Fiscal Policy Institute and Lazar Treschan of Community Service Society. The findings aren’t surprising – young people are staying in school longer, but it’s not making a difference in helping them find jobs.

JobsFirstNYC commissioned and contributed to this study of how young adults aged 18 to 24 are faring in the New York City labor market. It provides an analysis of current levels and recent trends in the demand for young adult labor, as distinguished by the employment and wage patterns of the jobs available to young […]

Among the many high-level appointments the next mayor of New York City will make, there’s one top post he or she might consider adding to the cabinet: the city’s first official “job czar.” That’s one of the recommendations put forth in a new report by the New York City Workforce Strategy Group, which seeks to reduce the city’s 9.1% unemployment rate by better connecting tens of thousands of New Yorkers looking for work with employers looking to hire.

If you ask people what the most popular jobs for young New Yorkers are, many would say baristas at Starbucks or sales assistants in chain retailers like Uniqlo, where you can make an average $8 to $10 per hour, or no more than $20,000 a year with regular working hours. But did you know an average janitor in New York City could easily make more than that?

Authors: Ben Daniels, Wendy McClanahan and Danijela Korom Djakovic This P/PV case study describes the process Hudson Guild employed to learn more about the disconnected young people in the community it serves, as the steps taken by Hudson Guild may help inform organizations interested in undertaking a similar venture. The first section of the document […]

The report was made possible by funding from the NYC Workforce Funders Group and JobsFirstNYC, including a project-specific grant from the William T. Grant Foundation. The report presents findings that address the following question: What are meaningful short-term progress measures that can help young adult workforce programs know if participants are on track to accomplish […]

For this report, JobsFirstNYC identified an as-yet-unexploited opportunity: to develop new and creative ways to engage employers by better meeting their hiring needs. Recognizing that workforce providers, researchers, and funders lacked a clear and comprehensive understanding of those needs, and of how employers view young adult workers, JobsFirstNYC commissioned Public Works Consulting to conduct research […]

There are 172,000 “disconnected youths” neither working nor in school in New York City, but according to a recent report, there’s still hope for gainful employment. 26,000 youth-friendly jobs requiring little training or education will open each year for much of the next decade in New York City, according to a recent report called “Now Hiring” by the Center for an Urban Future.

While the national unemployment rate remained relatively consistent last month, New York City may see an ample 26,000 jobs open annually over the next decade, according to a report released today by the Center for an Urban Future.

Are you an unemployed 18- to 24-year-old New Yorker with no college diploma and looking for work in a tough job market? Why not consider a job as a debt collector? Or how about a paratransit driver?

Commensurate with its mission, JobsFirstNYC has a strategic goal of reducing the number of out-of-work and out-of-school young adults between 18 and 24 years of age by 5% by 2017. This logic model aligns all the strategies JobsFirstNYC will incorporate in pursuit of this goal.

Approved by the JobsFirstNYC board of directors on January 24, 2012, this document represents the culmination of a strategic planning process that codified the organization's BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) as no less than a 5% reduction in the number of out-of-school and out-of-work young adults by 2017. The document outlines the key steps the [...]

By the mid-2000s, growing recognition of the magnitude of the out-of-school, out-of-work young adult crisis in New York City sparked the publication of several groundbreaking reports. These reports focused attention on the need for an independent entity to unite funders, practitioners, government officials, employers and other stakeholders in common cause, serving as catalyst for the […]

Authors: Laura Wyckoff, Siobhan M. Cooney, Danijela Korom Djakovic and Wendy S. McClanahan This P/PV brief presents the overall population of disconnected young people and key subpopulations, identifying known statistics, and providing best information towards borough numbers. It also gives data on compelling strategies and offers concepts for further research.