Photo Courtesy of Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
“All New Yorkers deserve to earn a living wage and share in our city’s prosperity,” Mayor Adams said.
By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams on Monday announced the launch of New York City Pathways to Industrial and Construction Careers (PINCC), a new talent development initiative that will help place nearly 2,300 low-income New Yorkers on the trajectory to careers in two high-growth sectors of the city’s economy over the next three years.
Formalized in Executive Order 22, the program will be funded with an $18.6 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration in response to New York City’s winning proposal to the Good Jobs Challenge created under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Targeted to serve cash assistance recipients and public housing residents, PINCC creates training pathways and provides wraparound support up to and beyond job placement, offering life-changing opportunities to New Yorkers.
This initiative helps set the stage for the Adams administration’s newly announced citywide talent development strategy, set forth in Executive Order 22. The goal, according to Adams, is to create a city where all young people launch successfully into fulfilling careers, all New Yorkers benefit from a living wage and contribute to the city’s shared prosperity, employers tap local talent, and public and private resources are fully aligned.
PINCC engages through all three phases of the employment cycle: recruitment and training, job placement, retention, and advancement. The program projects to train nearly 2,300 New Yorkers and help place them in high-wage and/or unionized jobs with benefits in roles like diesel mechanic, general utility worker, tradesperson, or construction project manager.
Participants will be targeted for specific interest in construction and industrial careers, matched with training appropriate for their skills and ambitions, and placed and provided ongoing support through an extensive set of employer relationships. Key partners on PINCC include two “catalyst” organizations: the Mayor’s Office of Talent and Workforce Development and the nonprofit Consortium for Worker Education. Both organizations will engage with employers, while the New York City Human Resources Administration will be responsible for recruiting participants.
“All New Yorkers deserve to earn a living wage and share in our city’s prosperity,” Adams said.
To further develop the talent and workforce development strategy citywide, the Mayor’s Office of Talent and Workforce Development will convene all city agencies and offices that operate programs related to talent and workforce development in designing a coherent system that will better serve jobseekers, students, incumbent workers, employers, and communities.
Additionally, Executive Order 22 will more effectively align the nearly two dozen city agencies and offices that administer workforce training and job placement programs. The new approach will integrate the city’s historically siloed education institutions, including the New York City Department of Education (DOE) and The City University of New York (CUNY). The Office of Talent and Workforce Development Interagency Cabinet will coordinate operations, prepare an annual plan with clear objectives, define key performance indicators, and measure progress against goals.
The order will also create a Future of Workers Task Force to consider and inform every aspect of the city’s strategy for empowering New Yorkers to secure and succeed in family-sustaining careers. To be staffed by the Mayor’s Office of Talent and Workforce Development — in partnership with CUNY and the DOE — employers and other key stakeholders will leverage the vision and momentum generated by the task force into a road map for significant systems change.
