HELPS Program Launched in New York

The state of New York is trying to make it easier to find work and fill thousands of government jobs simultaneously.

The state is trying to make it easier for New Yorkers to find work by hiring for emergency limited placement statewide programs or HELPS for short.

So that’s when we developed the original help program to help them no pun intended, but there is, to fill those vacancies and then it took off. It was a great success. Timothy Hogues Department of Civil Service Commissioner

The program is designed to help fill close to 10 thousand vacant civil jobs in the state.

We were able to fill a bunch of positions and then the rest of the agencies in the states said what about us we are suffering from a post-pandemic job market as well so we got our heads together again, Timothy Hogues Department of Civil Service Commissioner.

The program shortens the hiring process by eliminating exams, which then cuts down the wait time on whether you can proceed with interviews for a job.

The goal is to get people to work in the civil sector and not go towards the private sector.

About 100 career centers across the state this is coordination. This is systemization. This is being in the community and working with job seekers and businesses to meet the needs locally. What happens in Long Island is different than what happens in Niagara Falls is different than in Albany and having that locally driven presence is the most important piece of this, Brian Williams Executive director, Capital Region Workforce Development Board

The state says since the program launched last year, more than 20 thousand New Yorkers have found jobs thanks to the Helps program

This is helping across the board. It is a wonderful time to look at state government jobs, Roberta Reardon Department of Labor Commissioner

Albany has one of 10 centers for careers in government in the state.

To make it easier for job seekers the state entrance exams have been waived for most positions and fees for other exams have been waived through 2025.

You can find more information about the HELPS program athttps://www.cs.ny.gov/help/

Some other resources are: The Dept. of Labor Website and The Dept. of Civil Serves Website