You Can’t Keep a Good Town Down

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that close to 5,000 New Yorkers found jobs through NYC Workforce1 Career Centers in the first quarter of 2009. (Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images/Meet the Press)

The winter of recession may be coming to an end. Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday that close to 5,000 New Yorkers found jobs through NYC Workforce1 Career Centers in the first quarter of 2009. This is a 23 percent increase compared to the first quarter of 2008.

Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert Lieber and Department of Small Business Services Commissioner Robert Walsh also commented on the job increase.

The surge in jobs is attributed to longer hours and expanded services by the Workforce1 Career Centers in all five boroughs. At the current rate the city may reach its goal of 20,000 jobs in 2009 that Bloomberg set in his 2009 State of the City speech.

“Some might expect a recession to reduce job placements, but we’re determined not to let that happen,” said Mayor Bloomberg in a City Hall press release.

“In just a few short years, we’ve taken the Workforce 1 Career Centers from placing just 125 people in jobs per quarter to placing 5,000,” he said.

In 2009 so far, 2,798 people have been placed in retail, health care, technology, transportation, food services and other fields. Out of those numbers, 1,424 job placements were made in the Bronx, 1,179 in Brooklyn, 856 in Manhattan, 1,799 jobs placements were in Queens, and 540 were made in Staten Island.

“In these times, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to help New Yorkers get jobs and keep them, and our training and placement services have proven to be an increasingly effective tool to doing that,” said Deputy Mayor Lieber in a press release.

Last year a record 17,238 people were able to find jobs through the program.

The Workforce1 Career Centers help New Yorkers across all five boroughs. It gives free services including job search resource rooms, career counseling, and employment advice. They also provides GED and ESL classes.

Commissioner Walsh said that the current “milestone of making more than 5,000 job placements since January demonstrates that our approach is the right one,” according to a City Hall press release.

Among those helped through the program was Melissa Perez. After more than eight months of job searching, in February, the Hunts Point Workforce1 Career Center found her one as an assistant manager. She now makes double what she did at her last job.

“After searching nearly 10 months for a job after being laid off, I am so grateful that I was able to find a job with the help of the Workforce1 Career Center,” said Perez.