Committee on Civil Service and Labor meeting
April 14, 2026, 10:00 AM
The Committee on Civil Service and Labor held an oversight hearing on hiring strategies and workforce planning to rebuild and expand the municipal workforce. No legislation was voted on.
What was discussed
- Chair opens oversight of rebuilding the municipal workforce Chairperson Shirley Aldebol opened the hearing on hiring strategies for the new administration, citing roughly 15,500 unfilled civil service positions (a 5% vacancy rate, over 26% at the Department of Homeless Services) and pointing to the prior administration's two-for-one hiring policy and long
- DCAS testifies on recruitment, exams, and retention efforts Commissioner Yume Kitasei testified that DCAS administers 200+ civil service exams a year, has moved to computer-based testing and the Bridge Exam, runs recruitment and pathways programs, and is launching undergraduate scholarships and a free on-site childcare pilot, reporting a 90% retention rate
- How will the administration expedite hiring and reduce current vacancies? Commissioner Kitasei told Chairperson Aldebol that ending the two-for-one hiring policy in the new budget should significantly improve agencies' ability to fill vacancies, and that DCAS is working with OMB on a vacancy-alignment exercise designed not to cut core city services.
- Will more Bridge Exams be added, and how are titles grouped? Deputy Commissioner Katrina Porter told Chairperson Aldebol that DCAS aims to offer one Bridge Exam per fiscal year—having made over 1,300 appointments from four such exams since 2022—and selects grouped titles through a job analysis of shared qualifications, recently expanding the model to
- What are the barriers between passing an exam and actually getting hired? Commissioner Kitasei told Chairperson Aldebol that the biggest barriers are public misunderstanding of the civil service system and the bifurcation between passing a test (landing on a list) and a job actually being available, which can leave qualified candidates waiting over a year.
- Of 1.8 million applications, how many were hired and how long does hiring take? Deputy Commissioner Porter told Council Member Frank Morano that about 20,000 of the 1.8 million NYC Jobs applications resulted in hires through a non-exam interview process, and that time-to-hire is tracked at the agency level, not by DCAS.
- What does modernizing a century-old civil service system mean in the next year? Commissioner Kitasei told Council Member Morano she did not want to get ahead of talks with the state and labor partners but pointed to public education, technology, and examining legislative constraints on the exam system, and said ending the two-for-one policy would be the biggest near-term boost
- If retention is 90%, why are vacancy rates still high in critical agencies? Commissioner Kitasei told Council Member Morano that ending two-for-one should ease hiring and that DCAS is focused on recruitment support for hard-to-fill titles that are difficult across both the public and private sectors.
- Does DCAS use AI in administering exams or eligible lists? Commissioner Kitasei told Chairperson Aldebol that DCAS is not interested in replacing human decision-making with AI.
- How does DCAS connect students and CUNY to civil service careers? Deputy Commissioner Porter described pathways programs including the two-year Civil Service Pathways Fellowship for CUNY graduates (about 178 participants, with ~80 more starting in June) and the 60-year-old Public Service Corps internship, which DCAS uses to build pipelines into city careers.
- How far ahead does OLR begin bargaining, given 2026 contract expirations? First Deputy Commissioner Daniel Pollak told Chairperson Aldebol that DC 37's contract expires in November and that the city has historically bargained retroactively, with informal conversations ongoing ahead of formal negotiations; he said OLR does not track agency-level attrition costs.
- DC 37: revive hiring halls and reject bypassing the civil service exam Henry Garrido, Executive Director of District Council 37, testified that OMB previously thwarted union-backed hiring halls, opposed state proposals like NY HELPS to hire without exams as unfair to those already on lists and an invitation to nepotism, and urged investment in DCAS, exam-fee waivers
- How does DC 37 view the Qualified Incumbent Exam? Henry Garrido told Chairperson Aldebol that DC 37 proposed the Qualified Incumbent Exam, arguing it makes no sense to make licensed workers like CDL motor vehicle operators wait 18 months to certify when they can take private-sector jobs immediately, and urged high-school-to-civil-service pipeline
- CWA Local 1180: fix a hiring system that no longer works Robin Blair-Batte, Secretary-Treasurer of CWA Local 1180, testified that delayed exams, slow hiring, and the disbanding of the Department of Personnel have weakened the system, and called for faster hiring, restored oversight, high-school pathways, affordable housing for city workers, and
- Has the City pushed workforce training and accountability onto the unions? Henry Garrido and Gloria Middleton told Chairperson Aldebol that unions fund most worker training out of bargained wages while federal workforce dollars bypass CUNY and city workers, that OMB re-reviews already-approved hires causing long pay delays, and that low pay and thin training drive high
- NYCETC: stitch together labor, CUNY, and providers with real accountability Gregory Morris, CEO of the NYC Employment and Training Coalition, testified that the city has good ideas but fails to connect labor, city colleges, and workforce providers, and urged the Committee to hold DCAS and the city's workforce agencies accountable using clear metrics, starting with focused
- Hearing adjourned Chairperson Aldebol thanked the administration and public and closed the oversight hearing; no legislation was voted on.
Agenda
1 item
- T2026-1520 Oversight - Rebuilding the Municipal Workforce - Hiring Strategies for the New Administration. Hearing Held by Committee