Tuesday, October 27, 2026, 1 p.m. (New York City time), 250 Broadway - 8th Floor - Hearing Room 2
Committee: Committee on Workforce Development
The Committee on Workforce Development, chaired by Council Member Julie Won, held an oversight hearing on the Office of Community Hiring (OCH), which sets hiring goals for low-income New Yorkers, NYCHA residents, and residents of high-poverty neighborhoods on City contracts. Won opened by citing OCH's quarterly report showing 179 contracts worth about $3 billion with goals, sparse progress on construction and apprenticeship goals, and missing data the law requires, such as how many people were actually hired. Executive Director of NYC Talent, Dougal Sherry (transcribed variably), testified that 528 contracts ($13.3 billion) now have community hiring goals and approximately 1,200 community hires have been made to date, and described rulemaking, agency training, vendor outreach, and a referral source network of 81 organizations. Council Members Epstein, Cabán, Wong, and Won questioned the administration on outreach to council districts, referral source selection, the hiring hall at 2 Lafayette Street, data reporting gaps, staffing vacancies (a team of 8 against a budgeted 16 positions), the best-efforts compliance standard, penalties (which have not yet been issued), and the 36,000-jobs annual projection. Executive Director G. Lee of OCH also answered questions about operational priorities. Two members of the public testified. The hearing ended after public testimony with no votes taken.
0:11 1 2 3 Good afternoon welcome
0:11 to the committee on workforce
0:14 development at this time we
0:15 ask that you please sons all
0:18 electronics if you wish t
0:19 otestify.
0:20 Please see one of the at
0:21 arms in in the
0:22 . Back at no point please do
0:24 not approach the dais you
0:30 begin good afternoon and
0:31 welcome to today's oversight
0:34 hearing of the committee on
0:35 workforce development my name
0:36 is Julie one and I have the
0:38 privilege of sharing this
0:39 committee before we begin I
0:40 like to recognize my
0:41 colleagues have joined us
0:43 Council Member haneef and
0:43 Council Member Epstein today
0:45 we're looking at the office of
0:47 community hiring the idea
0:48 behind community hiring is
0:50 simple the City spends
0:51 billions of dollars each year
0:53 on contracts on the companies
0:54 are nonprofits that get
0:56 awarded those contracts should
0:57 be hiring New yorkers who need
0:58 the work in 20 23 albany gave
1:01 the City the power to set
1:03 hiring goals on City contracts
1:05 where low income New yorkers
1:06 nitra residents and people
1:08 living in our highest poverty
1:11 neighborhoods the cities own
1:12 rules took effect in January
1:15 2025 when the program launched
1:17 the administration projected
1:19 36000 jobs a year once it was
1:20 fully up and running in New
1:22 York City talent told this
1:24 committee that more than 200
1:25 procurements were already out
1:27 on the street and that program
1:28 could reach upwards of $20
1:30 billion in City contracts each
1:32 year but then we started
1:33 looking at the office of
1:34 community hirings own reports
1:36 . Och is latest quarterly
1:38 latest quarterly report was
1:39 posted just and it shows a
1:42 hundred 79 contracts worth
1:43 about $3 billion carrying a
1:45 community hiring goal up to up
1:47 from 60 contracts worth about
1:49 1 billion in that's real
1:50 growth but unfortunately the
1:51 progress hasn't kept up of the
1:54 83 construction contracts only
1:56 eight reported any progress
1:57 and six of these eight were
1:58 below the 30% community hiring
2:01 goal
2:01 . On all five contracts from
2:03 the apprenticeship goal that
2:04 reported progress the share of
2:07 ours work for by apprentices
2:09 from these communities was
2:12 zero for service contracts 9
2:13 4contracts now carry community
2:14 hiring goals that add up t
2:16 no progress reported at all
2:21 and some of the numbers that
2:22 have that are reported don't
2:24 add up one department of
2:26 social services workforce
2:27 development program in queens
2:28 has a goal of 31 hires but och
2:31 report his report shows that
2:32 it at more than 1200% of that
2:35 goal either something
2:36 remarkable is happening or ocd g
2:38 other than New hires and
2:41 nowhere in these reports the
2:41 cities say how many people
2:43 have actually been hired the
2:44 law requires these reports t
2:46 oshow how many people were
2:47 hired what their paid and who
2:49 they are and that information
2:50 is isn't in there
2:52 . So today I want to
2:53 understand what's behind these
2:54 numbers where nothing has been
2:55 reported has the work already
2:58 started and vendors just
2:59 aren't reporting or is it that
3:01 och doesn't have the staff or
3:02 the systems to follow up in
3:04 New York City talent told us
3:05 that 37 it has 37 staff in
3:09 total
3:09 . I want to know how many of
3:11 them are working on community
3:12 hiring and whether that's
3:14 enough to keep up with the
3:15 program that's nearly tripl
3:16 ein size in a single quarter I
3:18 also want to know what
3:19 happened to the programs very
3:21 first procurement in June 2024 .
3:25 2Billion in procurement for a
3:26 security guard and fire safety
3:28 services as its first
3:31 community hiring effort and
3:31 the City expected those
3:32 contracts to be placed by 2
3:34 025 they still don't appear in
3:37 any of reports this isn't the
3:39 city's first try at this back
3:41 in 20 19 under higher in New
3:43 York City about 80% of job
3:45 referrals were marked as
3:46 pending for years because
3:47 employers never told the City
3:48 whether anyone was hired we
3:50 can't afford to repeat that
3:52 . Well we'll be looking for
3:54 today is a real count of how
3:55 many New yorkers have been
3:56 hired through community hiring
3:58 a date for when the City will
4:00 publish the data the law
4:02 requires and a plan for
4:03 holding vendors accountable
4:04 when they don't meet their
4:06 goals before we turn it over
4:08 to the administration I'd like
4:08 to acknowledge the workforce
4:10 development committee staff
4:11 senior counsel outs poling off
4:14 paul policy analyst william
4:16 hong and financial analyst
4:18 spencer kuhn and I just want
4:20 to continue to acknowledge
4:22 that the Mayor has been very
4:23 vocal and very upfront in the
4:25 news as well as on the social
4:26 media and in public press that
4:29 he wants to hire from the City
4:30 of New York and that these are
4:32 job openings that we want t
4:33 ocontinue to have this
4:34 conversation so with that I'll
4:36 turn it over to committee
4:37 counsel to administer the oath n
4:41 ov senior counsel will all
4:42 members of the administration
4:44 testifying today please raise
4:45 your right hands do you swear
4:47 or affirm to tell the truth
4:48 the whole truth and nothing
4:49 but the truth in your
4:50 testimony today and to respond
4:52 honestly to councilmember
4:53 member questions thank you you
4:55 begin when ready good
5:00 afternoon shara wan and
5:00 members of the New York City
5:02 council committee on workforce
5:04 development my name is dougal
5:05 harry and I'm the executive
5:07 director of the New York City
5:08 office of talent and workforce
5:09 development or talent I am
5:11 joined today by g Lee
5:13 executive director of talent
5:14 office of community hiring.
5:17 Thank you for inviting us t
5:20 otestify today n I see talents
5:21 mission is to ensure that the
5:23 city's workforce system
5:24 connects New York er's do good
5:25 jobs and helps employers
5:26 access local talent.
5:28 Our public workforce
5:29 ecosystem includes more than
5:32 120 programs administered by
5:33 nearly 30 City agencies
5:34 including the including the
5:35 department of small business
5:37 services the human resources
5:39 administration the department
5:40 of youth and community
5:41 development the City
5:42 university of New York and New
5:43 York City public schools while
5:45 each agency focuses on its own
5:47 core mission talent works
5:48 across these partners to align
5:50 the city's workforce strategy
5:51 with job seeker needs employer
5:52 demand and a changing economy
5:55 community hiring exemplifies
5:57 talent efforts to design and
5:59 launch interagency initiatives
6:01 to deliver a better workforce
6:03 system community hiring is a
6:04 first of its kind program in
6:05 the nation that aims to embed
6:07 equity and opportunity into
6:09 City contracting
6:09 . New York city's local
6:11 government has many City
6:12 agencies that provide a wine a
6:14 wide range of services for New
6:15 York er's from designing parks
6:17 and playgrounds to providing
6:18 health care and child care t
6:21 oroads and bridges
6:21 . While some of this work is
6:22 done by City employees the
6:24 City also contracts with
6:25 vendors which include
6:27 businesses and nonprofits t
6:29 odeliver billions of dollars in
6:29 services every year community
6:32 hiring allows the City t
6:33 oleverage its purchasing power
6:35 by setting workforce goals on
6:36 these contracts for vendors t
6:37 ohire low income individuals
6:38 and residents of low income
6:40 communities including niger
6:42 housing community hiring was
6:43 authorized by state
6:44 legislation in 20 23 and
6:46 talent was tasked with
6:47 transforming the framework
6:49 establishing the law into an
6:50 operational program that has a
6:51 tangible impact on New York
6:52 er's
6:53 . While there are similar
6:54 programs in other cities and
6:55 states that are generally
6:56 limited that could
6:59 construction industry the
6:59 cities program goes further
7:00 and applies to a broad range
7:02 of contracts including
7:04 construction human human
7:05 services like health standard
7:07 services like cleaning and
7:09 moving and professional
7:09 services like technology and
7:11 engineering.
7:11 Och manages the rollout and
7:13 implementation of the program
7:15 supports City agencies and
7:16 vendors and reports on
7:18 progress toward community
7:18 hiring goals
7:19 . We are proud to share that
7:20 as a result of these efforts
7:24 528 contracts have community
7:25 hiring goals
7:25 . Which represents $13.3
7:28 billion in contract value
7:29 . Despite most of these
7:31 contracts being recently
7:31 registered and early on in
7:33 their contract term we already
7:35 have approximately 120
7:36 0community hires employed by
7:37 vendors to date
7:38 . I want to take this
7:39 opportunity to walk you
7:40 through the work that has made
7:42 these accomplishments possible.
7:43 After the state legislation
7:45 that authorized community
7:46 hiring was signed by the
7:47 governor in November 2023 we
7:50 were required to complete the
7:52 city's formal rulemaking
7:52 process to establish the
7:53 operational framework for the
7:55 program
7:55 . This included determining
7:56 details about what type of
7:57 contracts are covered how City
7:59 agencies set goals and what
8:00 vendors need to do to comply
8:03 with goals och work
8:04 collaboratively while
8:04 developing these rules so they
8:05 would be informed by the
8:06 perspectives of the many
8:07 stakeholders impacted by
8:09 community hiring.
8:10 Each heard from 120 unique
8:12 external partners through one
8:13 on one meetings information
8:15 sessions roundtables and
8:15 panels discussions
8:17 . These groups included
8:18 organized labor elected
8:20 officials workforce
8:21 development organizations
8:22 industry groups pre
8:23 apprenticeship programs human
8:23 service providers and
8:27 community organizations
8:27 . Oh ch also engaged with 4
8:29 7different City agencies and
8:29 offices through one on one
8:31 meetings and biweekly agency
8:33 working groups after this
8:35 process the community hiring
8:36 rules went into effect January
8:39 23 2025.
8:40 Since community hiring is
8:40 tied to City contracting our
8:42 major priority in 20 25 was
8:44 ensuring that City agencies
8:45 staff were aware trained and
8:47 prepared to set goals on their
8:49 agency's applicable contracts
8:51 we reviewed contract
8:52 information from passport
8:53 monitored procurement being
8:54 released by agencies and held
8:55 approximately 200 meetings
8:57 just to the agency procurement
8:58 staff to discuss opportunities
8:59 to set goals we hold training
9:01 sessions that were attended by
9:02 over a hundred 15 City agency
9:05 staff representing 27 agencies
9:07 developed an agency specific
9:09 faq you document created
9:09 standard contract language.
9:11 After a phased rollout by
9:13 September 2025 we had
9:14 supported all mayoral agencies
9:16 to ensure they were prepared
9:17 to implement community hiring
9:18 ecity vendors so that they had
9:22 the information they needed t
9:24 ounderstand and comply with and
9:26 benefit from community hiring
9:29 these efforts included
9:30 publishing a vendor specific
9:31 document on our website
9:33 attending community and
9:34 procurement events to conduct
9:34 vendor outreach and presenting
9:36 during pre solicitation
9:37 conferences to provide
9:38 guidance to vendors interested
9:39 in responding to solicitations
9:42 for procurements with goals t
9:43 odate we have presented 70 77
9:46 pre solicitation conferences
9:47 . To help vendors fill their
9:48 workforce needs and meet their
9:50 community hiring goals
9:51 . We establish a network of
9:52 referral sources which are
9:54 entities authorized by our
9:55 office to connect vendors with
9:57 qualified job seekers in
9:58 search of opportunities we
10:00 intentionally designed our
10:00 referral source network to
10:02 drive more employers and more
10:03 jobs to the public workforce
10:05 system currently our network
10:07 includes 81 organizations
10:08 including labor unions h's
10:10 workforce one career center
10:12 aids business link and dozens
10:15 of community based
10:15 organizations that have
10:16 contracts with agencies like
10:17 wic for job placement services.
10:19 Referral sources conduct
10:20 outreach to their communities
10:22 provide free job placement and
10:24 recruitment services
10:25 determined job seekers seekers
10:27 are eligible as community
10:29 hires and help ensure that
10:30 candidates meet the vendors
10:33 employment needs
10:33 accountability is embedded
10:34 into the design of community
10:34 hiring as we are required to
10:38 publish quarterly reports and
10:39 contracts subject to community
10:41 hiring goals goals these
10:41 reports include aggregate and
10:43 vendors specific progress
10:44 towards goals and information
10:45 about placements and
10:46 demographics of community
10:48 hires.
10:48 Regular reporting will not
10:50 only increase transparency but
10:50 will also provide a long term
10:51 opportunity for the City t
10:53 ocontinuously improve the
10:55 program by identifying
10:56 opportunities for targeted
10:57 outreach or training programs
10:58 could be developed to better
10:59 align the skills of job
11:00 seekers with the needs of City
11:02 vendors.
11:03 While we are still building
11:04 some of the necessary digital
11:05 infrastructure we published
11:07 nine quarterly reports to date n
11:09 our website dot gov slash
11:11 community hiring under the
11:13 leadership of mira madani and
11:14 deputy Mayor for economic
11:15 justice charlie sue we are
11:17 committed to strengthening the
11:18 work force system as essential
11:21 public infrastructure t
11:22 oconnect New yorkers t
11:23 oopportunity community hiring
11:24 is an important tool that
11:25 strategically leverage is City
11:27 contracts to drive employers
11:27 and jobs to the public
11:29 workforce system while also
11:31 improving interconnectivity
11:32 across City agencies vendors
11:34 and programs so that job
11:36 seekers and businesses
11:38 mutually benefit I know
11:38 firsthand from working many
11:39 years that the Mayor office
11:41 with contract services that
11:42 City procurement is an
11:44 extremely complicated process
11:45 that offers immense
11:46 opportunity and betting
11:47 community into this process
11:49 developing multiple digital
11:51 systems for data tracking and
11:53 analysis strengthen