Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Oct. 5 that the city has created an advisory committee with labor unions to fix how New York City hires its civil servants. The committee will develop city-level improvements and recommendations for changes to state law.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Oct. 5 that the city has launched the Civil Service Modernization Advisory Committee, which will work with labor unions to overhaul how the city hires municipal workers. The committee will put forward both city-level fixes to speed up outdated hiring procedures and recommendations for changes to the law. The city said this is the first time city government and unions have formed an official body to address the issue.
The committee will be chaired by Yume Kitasei, commissioner of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), with Henry Garrido, executive director of DC 37, as vice chair. Its members include city officials such as Deputy Mayor for Operations Julia Kerson, Office of Labor Relations Commissioner Renee Campion, Office of Management and Budget Director Sherif Soliman, Corporation Counsel Steve Banks and Department of Social Services Commissioner Erin Dalton, along with representatives of CWA Local 1180, SEIU Local 246, SSEU Local 371 and the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association (COBA).
The city said the current system cannot keep up with today's demand because of outdated technology, cumbersome administrative procedures, long processing times and responsibility divided among multiple agencies. New York City has more than 300,000 employees, and about 80% of them are hired through the standard civil service exam. They include sanitation workers, electricians, social services caseworkers and administrative analysts, and DCAS administers about 175 exams a year.
The committee's stated priorities are a hiring process that is fast while preserving fairness, a transparent and trustworthy merit-based system, clearer paths into and up through city government jobs, and digital systems that are easy for both applicants and agencies to use. Shortening current hiring times and introducing new exam formats are also on the agenda.
In July, the city opened civil service exams free of charge to high school students and first-time test takers, and in August it doubled the Civil Service Pathways Fellowship to 400 participants. Last month, it opened the Jobs NYC Center, a counseling hub that connects people with public-sector jobs. The announcement did not say when the committee will issue its recommendations.