New Report Outlines Path to a Greener, More Affordable New York City Through Workforce Investment

NYCETC report highlights opportunity to create up to 360,000 jobs while lowering costs and strengthening climate resilience

NEW YORK, NY, May 28, 2026 – A new report from the New York City Employment and Training Coalition (NYCETC) finds that building a coordinated, demand-driven green workforce is essential to delivering both climate progress and affordability for New Yorkers. On the Ground: An Affordable Climate Economy outlines how aligning workforce development, business needs, and city leadership can unlock economic opportunity while advancing sustainability goals.

The report emphasizes that the green economy is not only a climate imperative but also a major economic opportunity, potentially creating at least 360,000 jobs by 2040, while lowering costs for residents through more efficient infrastructure, energy systems, and housing.

Key report takeaways include:

  • Align climate and affordability goals: Frame the green economy around tangible benefits—lower utility bills, accessible transit, and stable jobs—to broaden impact and support.
  • Treat workforce development as economic infrastructure: Better integrate training providers with business services to ensure talent pipelines meet real employer demand.
  • Deliver locally: Support neighborhood-based small businesses and community organizations to connect New Yorkers to green jobs where they live.
  • Leverage city government as a model employer: Use public-sector hiring and procurement to set the standard for effective workforce development.
  • Invest in hands-on training capacity: Expand access to physical training spaces and emerging technologies critical to the clean energy transition.

The report concludes that stronger coordination across employers, educators, workforce providers, and government can turn climate investments into accessible, good-paying jobs, making New York City both more resilient and more affordable.

“New York City’s climate future and its affordability crisis are deeply connected, and both hinge on whether we build the workforce to deliver real, on-the-ground solutions,” said Gregory J. Morris, CEO, NYCETC. “The green economy can lower costs for New Yorkers, expand access to quality careers, and strengthen neighborhoods across the five boroughs. By better aligning training, business needs, and public investment, we can turn the transition to a cleaner, more resilient city into real opportunity for all.”

“As NYCETC’s report makes clear, climate action and economic justice must go hand in hand. The transition to a green economy is an opportunity to lower costs, strengthen communities, and create real pathways into family-sustaining careers for working-class New Yorkers,” said Assembly Member Amanda N. Septimo. “To make that vision real, we must invest in workforce development and ensure the jobs of the future are accessible to the communities most impacted by inequality and climate change.” 

“New York City’s climate future begins and ends with workers,” said Council Member Julie Won. “This wonderful report makes clear that there is no way through one of the biggest challenges of our time without the training, empowering, and investment in New Yorkers who will rewire our grid, build bioswales, and ensure a resilient future for us all. New York City’s green economy holds the promise of 360,000 good jobs, but that promise is only fulfilled when we invest in the New Yorkers ready to do the work.”

“As New York’s green economy grows, affordability and access have to be built in from the start,” said Leslie Abbey, CEO, Hot Bread Kitchen. “For New Yorkers who face barriers to employment, that means creating intentional pathways into these emerging roles—especially in sectors where they’ve traditionally been underrepresented.”

“A workforce strategy that leaves out people with barriers to employment, especially justice-impacted people who comprise the largest pool of untapped talent, limits both impact and reach,” said Christopher Watler, Executive Vice President, Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO). “Expanding access to family-sustaining jobs is the foundation of the green economy.”

“Emerging industries can feel out of reach for young people navigating real barriers,” said Kalilah Moon, Executive Director, Drive Change. “What matters is building entry points that are concrete, supported, and connected to actual opportunity, so that the green economy is something they can step into, not just hear about.”

“The green economy is accelerating, and demand for skilled workers in green jobs is rising just as quickly,” said Debbie Roman, NY Workforce Development Program Manager, National Grid. “Meeting that demand will require stronger coordination across employers, training providers, and public systems.”

“New York City’s transition to a greener economy must be matched by an equal commitment to building inclusive workforce pathways,” said Marjorie D. Parker, CEO and President of JobsFirst and JobsFirst NYC. “That means investing in the partnerships, training systems, and community connections that help New Yorkers access good careers and participate in the city’s long-term economic growth. I look forward to continuing to work in partnership with NYCETC and our Green Economy Network to advance this shared agenda, with a focus on young adult New Yorkers who are out of school and out of work.”

“The transition to a greener economy will only succeed if workforce systems are equipped to meet the moment,” said Sherazade Langlade-Hunter, Chief Executive Officer of Workforce Professionals Training Institute (WPTI). “That means investing not only in workers, but in the practitioners, organizations, and partnerships that help connect New Yorkers to opportunity. Building a more resilient city requires a workforce ecosystem that is coordinated, responsive, and grounded in equity.”

“New York’s green economy workforce development must serve businesses while staying worker-centered, building skills that drive real outcomes for industries and residents. It’s not a niche sector—it underpins affordable housing, reliable energy, and livable neighborhoods,” said Marco Carrion, President, Center for Workforce Excellence (CWE). “A coordinated, intentional workforce system can turn the ‘resiliency economy’ into a powerful jobs agenda, advancing climate goals, lowering costs, improving services, and creating accessible, family-sustaining careers while strengthening small businesses.”

“Green jobs and career pathways are core drivers of NYC’s overall economy. They represent clear platforms for connecting climate action with economic mobility,” said Tonya Gayle, Executive Director, Green City Force. “Expanding green job access to every New Yorker across all demographics and backgrounds is central to building stronger, more resilient communities.”

“Delivering an affordable climate economy depends on building stronger connections between employers, workforce providers, and the communities most impacted by climate and economic inequities,” said Angela N. Son, Founder and CEO of The Green Launchpad. “As demand grows for building decarbonization and energy efficiency work, New York must invest in the partnerships and training infrastructure that prepare New Yorkers for the jobs driving the city’s clean energy transition.”

“The continued growth of the green economy depends on a workforce that can install, manage, and maintain clean energy systems,” said Stephen Levin, CEO, Solar One. “Expanding access to those green jobs is a critical next step.”

“Green jobs offer real potential for economic mobility, but only when workforce programs are aligned with how employers hire,” said Tracey Capers, Executive Director, The HOPE Program. “Strengthening that connection is essential to making the green economy work.”

“The growth of the green economy is creating new pathways to stable work while advancing a more sustainable future for New York City. Turning that momentum into lasting careers requires intentional training, consistent support, and clear connections to employment,” said Jennifer Mitchell, President and CEO, The Doe Fund. “At The Doe Fund, we’re proud to integrate green jobs into a broader portfolio of industry training programs that open doors to long-term opportunity.”

“Small and mid-sized businesses are doing much of the on-the-ground work in the green economy, yet they’re often left out of workforce strategy,” said Aaron Shiffman, Executive Director, Building Works (BWI). “Bringing them into the fold through better access to talent and more responsive support is critical to making this transition function at scale.”

“As a citywide construction skills training provider with a focus on green jobs and energy efficiency, the Andromeda Community Initiative (ACI) strongly supports the report’s call for focused efforts to bridge employer and job seeker demand and for the deliberate leveraging of City projects to create true entry-level opportunities in this growing sector,” said David Nidus, Executive Director, Andromeda Community Initiative. “We urge the City to recognize that only with real investment in skills training and employer networks can true opportunity for more New Yorkers really be developed.” 

“The expansion of green jobs depends on how well workforce development is integrated into project delivery,” said David Meade, Executive Director, Building Skills NY. “Embedding workforce strategies directly into green economy investments is what drives results.”

“A strong green economy depends on more than skills—it depends on access to opportunity,” said Ayesha George, Executive Director at STRIVE New York. “When training is aligned with employer demand and backed by hiring partners, we create real pathways for New Yorkers to enter and grow in green careers.”

“New York City has a strong foundation of workforce programs and committed partners serving jobseekers and employers across the city,” said Paula Bailey, Executive Vice President, Grant Associates. “By continuing to strengthen the alignment between agencies, employers, and providers, we can build an even more human-centered system that delivers meaningful results at scale.”

“Staying focused on the green economy is an existential and economic imperative for cities everywhere, but meeting this moment will only be as promising as the systems we build to connect people to opportunity within it,” said Darren Bloch, NYCETC Board Member. “Expanding access to green jobs requires more than training alone—it calls for closer alignment between employers, workforce providers, government, and the communities where this work is happening; and I hope this report and analysis helps shed light on the urgency and opportunity of the moment.”

“New York’s workforce has the talent and drive to power the green economy,” said Kilsys Payamps-Roure, founding Executive Director of Braven New York City. “When training systems connect directly to where hiring is happening, capable New Yorkers are ready to step into these roles. Intentionally building those bridges will turn this moment into real mobility.”

“The green economy presents real opportunity, but only if workforce training, social supports, and employer demand are aligned,” said David Garza, President & CEO, Henry Street Settlement. “The coalition’s report is right on time because it acknowledges the three critical areas impacted by this work: economic justice for the community, fulfillment of industry needs, and protection of the climate from disasters that disproportionately affect lower-income communities. Creating this workforce structure is what allows more people to move into green jobs and what Henry Street Settlement and our partner Stacks+Joules have been working to achieve through our building automation systems training program, clean-energy internships, and more.”

“There’s a growing divide between where we’re cultivating talent and where green jobs are actually taking root,” said Diallo Shabazz, Managing Director, Braven Solutions. “And if we intend to build a green economy that is not only innovative, but inclusive and enduring, then closing that divide isn’t just good policy, it’s good governance.”

“As New York continues to grow its green economy, we have to make sure that opportunity is tangible for both workers and employers,” said Sunil Gupta, Vice President for Division of Adult Continuing Education & Workforce Development, LaGuardia Community College (CUNY). “Community colleges are uniquely positioned to help translate this moment into real career pathways by aligning training with industry needs and preparing New Yorkers for jobs that support both economic mobility and a more sustainable, affordable city.”

“Climate investments show up in very real ways for New Yorkers, through housing quality, safety, and cost,” said Valerie Payne, Executive Director, Rebuilding Together NYC. “The workforce behind that work is essential to making those benefits tangible across neighborhoods, especially for residents most impacted by aging infrastructure.”

“This report makes clear that New York City’s climate agenda will only succeed if we build the workforce systems to support it. That means aligning training, employer demand, and public investment so New Yorkers—especially those without traditional credentials—can access these careers,” said Ian Straughter, Executive Vice President & Chief Program Officer, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. “Neighborhood-based organizations are critical to making that connection real, and it’s the approach guiding our development of the SURGE initiative on Governors Island—a training hub designed to expand access to green economy careers.”

“The Urban Assembly remains committed to ensuring that students in New York City have access to the green jobs of the future,” said David Adams, CEO, The Urban Assembly. “From the Urban Assembly School for Green Careers to the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School, innovation in education means exposing our students to skills that will enable them to thrive in a changing workforce.”

“As the green economy expands across New York City, access does not happen automatically, even when it occurs in or adjacent to communities historically marginalized and excluded,” said Greg Rideout & Evelyn Ortiz, Co-Chief Executive Officers, Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow. “Without structured pathways, aligned training, wraparound services, and employer partnership, these opportunities remain out of reach for the communities that need them most.”

“The green economy is active and growing across New York City’s industrial spaces,” said Nikki Evans, Senior Vice President of Workforce Development, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. “At the Navy Yard, we know how critical it is for companies and workforce systems to connect, cooperate, and create meaningful infrastructure to help workers navigate varied career opportunities in the green sector. I am thrilled to see this report highlight and support making the Green Economy more accessible through workforce development. ”  

“Connecting neighborhoods to the green economy is what makes opportunity real,” said Michael Partis, Executive Director, Red Hook Initiative (RHI). “When we expand access to green jobs at the local level, we create pathways to stable careers, strengthen community resilience, and make sure the benefits of climate investment reach the people and neighborhoods they’re meant to serve.” 

“The growth of the green economy presents an opportunity to expand access to green jobs in the trades,” said Leah Rambo, President, Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW). “That progress depends on intentional strategies that open doors and support retention for women.”

“For young people, access to the green economy depends on early exposure and structured pathways,” said Robert T. Taylor, Executive Director, Youth Action Programs and Homes, Inc. “Without them, green jobs remain difficult to access.”

“As New York City’s green economy continues to grow, the success of this transition will depend on how effectively we connect New Yorkers to these opportunities,” said Associate Dean Christine Zagari LoPorto, Kingsborough Community College, Division of Workforce Development and Continuing Education. “This report highlights the critical role of workforce development systems in ensuring that climate investments translate into equitable, accessible careers for communities across the city.” 

“The green economy intersects directly with housing, infrastructure, and community development,” said Larry Rothchild, Senior Managing Director of Workforce Development, St. Nicks Alliance. “Workforce strategies must include career exploration, career training  for Green Economy jobs, while connecting our community to green jobs  and preparing them for career advancement opportunities that support economic sustainability in North and Central Brooklyn and across NYC.”

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About New York City Employment and Training Coalition

As the largest city-based workforce development association in the country, the New York City Employment and Training Coalition (NYCETC) supports the workforce and economic development community to ensure that every New Yorker has access to the skills, training and education needed to thrive in the local economy; and that every business can maintain a highly skilled workforce. Throughout its 25-year history, NYCETC has sought to increase the availability of and access to investments and supports that position underserved New Yorkers — primarily New Yorkers of color, New Yorkers with low- or moderate incomes, New Yorkers with multiple barriers to employment, and New Yorkers who have been left out of the growing economy due to systemic and historic marginalization – for success in the workforce. Currently, 224 organizations are members of the NYCETC. These organizations are responsible for serving the needs of 200,000+ New Yorkers seeking access to education and employment opportunities each year. The primary recipients of services are women, young adults (18-24 years of age), public housing residents, justice-impacted individuals, and immigrants.  

Media Contact

Emily Kaufold, emily@hayesinitiative.com, (203) 295-5783

Over 2,000 workers in New York City’s human services sector, including many NYCETC member organizations and allies, rallied outside City Hall last Thursday to urge Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the City Council to close the 30% pay gap between nonprofits who contract with the city and their city government counterparts.

A large crowd of human services workers at City Hall at the Just Pay rally for pay equity.
Photos by John Rossi, courtesy of the Human Services Council.

Organized by the Human Services Council (HSC), the rally marked the latest chapter of HSC’s #JustPay campaign, calling attention to the disparate treatment of human services workers, who provide essential services to New Yorkers — while often being underpaid, overworked, and struggling to make ends meet themselves.

“I hate it when they say, ‘Oh, you’re doing God’s work!’ Really?” said Maria Lizardo, the executive director of Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation (NMIC), an NYCETC member. “But even God needs to get paid, to pay his bills.”

One of the #JustPay campaign’s major wins has been securing a 3% annual cost-of-living adjustment for city-contracted human services workers. The next stage is ensuring the passage of Int 0452, a City Council bill that would more permanently rectify the 30% pay gap by requiring the city to pay contracted human services workers the same wages as their city counterparts.

Nonprofit leaders say the vast pay disparity makes it challenging to attract and retain staff. Moreover, staff turnover affects the quality and continuity of services. In other words, a community member might be constantly getting a different case worker, or attorney, or child care provider.

Wayne Ho, the president and CEO of the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC), explained how he often sees talented staffers leaving after two or three years, in order to take jobs with higher salaries and more robust benefits in city government. He understands it, but said the frequent turnover often results in human services nonprofits feeling like “a training ground for government agencies,” rather than a place for staffers to grow their careers.

In addition, when a staffer leaves for a higher-paying job in government or in the private sector, the organization has to quickly recruit and train a new person to fill that role, which takes time and resources away from providing services to community members. Ho, an NYCETC board member, added that the lack of consistency can also affect the level of funding that an organization gets from the city, perpetuating the cycle.

“A lot of these contracts are based on our performance,” he said. “So if we have vacancies, we’re serving fewer kids, we’re serving fewer families, we’re serving fewer adults. So that impacts our reimbursements from the city.”

Maria Lizardo speaks from the podium at the Just Pay rally.
Maria Lizardo, executive director of NMIC, an NYCETC member.

The pay disparity and inconsistent funding can make it difficult for human services organizations to create competitive wages across the board, as Lizardo explained. 

“At NMIC, we do a lot of legal services. And we’ve really had to do a lot of somersaults and creative budgeting in order to attempt to develop a pay scale for attorneys,” she said. “And in order not to create this distance within our own organization and make sure that we’re being equitable, we’re also looking at pay parity for the rest of our staff, because it takes a whole organization to be strong and vibrant in order to be able to serve the community. And especially in this moment where there’s so much community need, and things are so complicated, we need to make sure that nonprofits are strong.” 

Without strong organizations that are consistently staffed with workers who are being paid equitably, “families, children, and the community will suffer,” said Sharon Sewell-Fairman, president and CEO of Women Creating Change. “It’s really important that human services workers are not burnt out, they’re not struggling, they’re not in poverty while they’re helping to provide essential services.”

She pointed out that this isn’t just a labor issue. It’s also an issue of racial and gender equity, as women of color are perpetually and disproportionately underpaid.

“Asian women, they’re making 72 cents on the dollar, compared to a white male making $1. Black women are making 56 cents on the dollar, and Latina women are making 54 cents on the dollar,” she said, noting that women, and especially women of color, “tend to be concentrated in care work, which is undervalued.”

Sharon Sewell-Fairman speaks at the podium with arm raised up at the Just Pay rally.
Sharon Sewell-Fairman, president and CEO of Women Creating Change.

Someone inside City Hall who understands the stakes of this fight firsthand is Councilmember Althea Stevens, the lead sponsor of Int 0452.

“I worked in nonprofits for 20 years, running multiple programs and making less than I should have been. But I did the work because that’s what needed to be done, right? I kept the community services open as long as I could without being paid for it. Staff came in on the weekends because we knew that was the right thing to do, not because that’s what we wanted to do, but because we had to,” Stevens said. “So I know there are so many organizations [and] settlement houses that are doing real, quality work, and they can’t afford to pay their staff what they’re worth.” 

As Mamdani attempts to enact his agenda to tackle the city’s affordability crisis, human services leaders say the time is especially ripe for him and the City Council to rectify the 30% pay gap. In fact, as HSC executive director Michelle Jackson noted, human services workers are crucial to delivering on that agenda.

“It’s human services workers and providers that make New York affordable for so many people,” Jackson said. “And if the mayor wants to make New York affordable, he has 80,000 workers that he pays under human services contracts. He can make New York affordable for them by giving them equal wages for equal work.”

More broadly, paying human services workers fairly is an issue that should be top of mind for all New Yorkers.

“Have you ever used child care services? Have you ever taken a class at a nonprofit? Has your kid learned to swim at one of the settlement houses?” Lizardo said. “If you have used any of these services, guess what? We have touched your lives, and we have made an impact on your lives. Now it’s time for you to show up for us, and demand just pay for our sector.”

To learn more and get involved: 

As the Mamdani administration surpasses its first 100 days in office, New Yorkers are taking stock of what has been prioritized and what has not. 

The Mayor deserves high marks for prioritizing everyday quality-of-life issues, the kind of “pothole socialism” that treats governing as customer service. It’s a model that delivers, and it works. But it leads me to wonder: when does the underlying plumbing get its turn? Behind every pothole is a capital budget. Behind every delayed 311 response is a workforce. And behind every New Yorker struggling to make rent, find childcare, and pay for groceries is a stagnant economy — one that the previous administration consistently oversold as a recovery.

The post-COVID rebound was never as strong as it was presented. Now growth has stalled, population is declining, and the business closures accelerating across Manhattan’s commercial corridors suggest the trend is getting worse, not better. And the World Cup is not likely to pull us out of the slump. 

With a $5 billion budget gap that worsens in the outyears, what is the theory of the case for how covered trash bins and dedicated bus lanes will meaningfully stabilize the City in the short term? I’ll assume, having never served in city government, that there’s no extra money hidden under the seat cushions. State support can buy breathing room, but it’s not a strategy.

And that’s the point: stabilization doesn’t come from surface-level fixes alone. It comes from how the city generates opportunity and income at scale.

A reliance on economic justice and corporate responsibility in New York City—while important and marked by real, meaningful wins for New Yorkers—remains incomplete without addressing how people access work and what that work actually pays. Gains in wages, protections, and accountability matter, but they don’t, on their own, build a functioning pathway into stable employment at scale.

At what point does that responsibility shift back to the City itself?

As the largest employer in New York, City government is not just a regulator of the labor market; it is a central actor within it. Yet it remains understaffed and stretched, with persistent vacancies that limit its ability to deliver services, implement policy, and model the kind of workforce system the broader economy needs. At the same time, the City’s contracting practices—how it pays nonprofit providers and workforce partners—continue to strain the organizations responsible for delivering these outcomes, with delayed payments, insufficient rates, and a failure to consistently cover the true cost of delivering services.

Because at the end of the day, affordability, racial equity, corporate responsibility, and education outcomes all rise or fall on access to quality jobs—this is fundamentally about work, wages, and pathways into the sectors that sustain this city, whether we name it that way or not.

I’m intentionally not using the term “workforce development” in line with this administration’s shift away from it in its most senior roles. Instead, I’m focusing on skill acquisition, talent development, career advancement, upskilling and reskilling, and a 360-degree approach to retention and advancement.

None of that photographs well. But it’s the work that actually moves the needle on affordability, mobility, and who this city is for.

The City’s own workforce data infrastructure does not track wages. It does not allow the public—or policymakers—to understand whether training programs are leading to jobs that can sustain a life in New York. And while demographic data may be collected, it is rarely connected to outcomes in a way that shows whether opportunity is truly being distributed equitably.

That stands in tension with the City’s own commitments. The recently released Preliminary Racial Equity Plan calls for disaggregated data, pay equity, and clearer indicators to track progress across systems—but without linking wages, employment outcomes, and demographic data, those commitments remain incomplete.

In other words, we are talking about equity without fully measuring it. That’s a structural problem. Because if you don’t measure wages, you can’t measure mobility. And if you can’t measure mobility, you cannot claim success.

Others in this space are already doing this work. Through initiatives like the Workforce Benchmarking Network, organizations across New York City are embedding wage and demographic data into their operations—tracking not just who they serve, but whether participants secure quality jobs, experience wage growth, and advance over time. The City isn’t.

The City’s data portal is a good start—it tracks who is served and what programs are completed. But without wage data, job quality indicators, and meaningful equity measures, it falls short of what’s needed. It cannot tell us whether people are earning enough to live in New York, whether jobs lead to advancement, or whether outcomes are improving across communities.

Without that, it undercuts any serious conversation about the true cost of living. It limits our ability to assess whether public investments are actually driving economic mobility—or simply cycling people through programs. A system that measures activity but not outcomes cannot guide policy, inform investment, or build public trust.

The contradiction is hard to ignore. City officials are actively engaged in debates about raising wages to $30 an hour — a legitimate and necessary conversation. But the overwhelming majority of publicly funded job training and workforce programs are not placing people into jobs anywhere near that wage level. We are subsidizing a system that, by its own outcomes, falls well short of the standard we’re simultaneously demanding of employers.

So when does the City commit to closing that gap—within the next hundred days, or the hundred after that? That’s another 12 weeks lost that could be spent on the highest quality and most promising training models that earn credits and credentials, activating social networks to support job seekers with and without degrees to make the connections to jobs that pay.

When do the problem, policy, and political streams finally align? And when does economic justice start showing up in actual earnings for actual New Yorkers?

The urgency of this moment is only increasing. New Yorkers are about to face a wave of new pressures—from federal work requirements tied to SNAP to broader shifts in healthcare coverage that will require thousands more people to engage with the labor market.

The City is not yet prepared for what’s coming next. But it’s also the opportunity to align the New York City Office of Talent and Workforce Development, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the Workforce Development Board, and partners like NYCETC around a clear, forward-looking strategy for where jobs are created and how industries grow. 

That alignment must fully leverage SUNY and CUNY as core engines of talent development, pair education with earning through tools like Workforce Pell, and engage unions—still the most reliable pathway into the middle class—as central partners in building and sustaining that pipeline. And it has to be built as a business solution, because if businesses aren’t expanding, we’re further undercutting the impact of these investments before they even begin.

Everything this administration is advancing depends on people to do the work. If the goal is to manufacture bins to get garbage off the street, build and maintain housing, expand child care, support community mental health, and keep the city running—from mom-and-pop shops and neighborhood grocery stores to life sciences labs and tech hubs—then the question isn’t just about policy design. It’s about the workforce.

Where are the workers coming from? How are they being trained, supported, and retained?

If you want a legacy like LaGuardia’s—who built the infrastructure for where New Yorkers live—this is the moment to build the infrastructure for how New Yorkers work, creating real, scalable pathways into jobs that shape the city for generations.

Testimony submitted by Gregory J. Morris, Chief Executive Officer of New York City Employment & Training Coalition on April 15, 2026.

My name is Gregory J Morris. I serve as CEO of the New York City Employment and Training Coalition (NYCETC) – the country’s largest city-based workforce development association. NYCETC works to expand access to good jobs and better wages by helping build a stronger, more effective workforce system in NYC.

I appreciate the focus of today’s hearing because it highlights a fundamental misdiagnosis of the child care crisis.

This is not, at its core, a supply problem.

It is a workforce system failure—one that is constraining access, driving up costs, and undermining quality across the early childhood sector.

Let us ground that in the data.

New York City currently serves fewer than half of children under five in formal early care and education settings. At the same time, providers report persistent vacancy rates and staffing instability. Research from the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute finds that early childhood educators in New York City earn substantially less than their K–12 counterparts, despite comparable credential expectations. The consequence is predictable: turnover rates that often exceed 20 to 25 percent annually, disrupting continuity of care and increasing system costs.

Simultaneously, the city continues to experience labor-market dislocation—particularly among low-wage workers and those seeking entry into stable career pathways.

In economic terms, we observe a classic coordination failure: unmet labor demand coexisting with underutilized labor supply, mediated by fragmented institutions and weakly aligned incentives.

The legislation before the Council is therefore equally timely and necessary.

A structured pathway into the early childhood workforce—combining financial support, training, and a service commitment—reflects what the evidence base tells us about effective workforce interventions. However, its success will depend not only on program design, but also on the extent to which it is embedded within a coherent, citywide workforce strategy.

I would offer three areas for consideration.

1. The City must move from programmatic interventions to system-level workforce pathways.

At present, entry into the early childhood workforce is diffuse, uncoordinated, and often disconnected from formal education and training systems. This proposal creates an opportunity to formalize that pipeline—but only if it is intentionally aligned with institutions such as the City University of New York, labor partners, and community-based training providers.

Critically, the City already operates a large-scale workforce entry mechanism through the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development, most notably the Summer Youth Employment Program, which serves approximately 100,000 young people annually.

However, SYEP largely functions as a short-term employment intervention rather than a structured career pathway.

The opportunity here is to convert SYEP from a point-in-time experience into a sequenced pipeline placing participants in early childhood settings, connecting them to postsecondary credential programs, and supporting their progression into permanent roles. Evidence from sector-based training models suggests that when training is aligned with employer demand and includes work-based learning, placement rates can exceed 70 percent, with measurable gains in earnings over time.

This is the distinction between access and mobility.

2. Workforce stabilization must be treated as a precondition for system performance.

Much of the current policy conversation focuses on recruitment. The evidence suggests this is insufficient.

Retention is the binding constraint.

Early childhood educators in New York City face wage structures that aren’t competitive with adjacent sectors, including K–12 education and even entry-level service occupations. The result is persistent churn that imposes costs not only on providers but also on children and families, disrupting care environments.

Addressing this requires a combination of wage supports, credentialing pathways, and advancement opportunities—particularly for incumbent workers, many of whom are already performing core functions without formal recognition or compensation aligned to their responsibilities.

It also needs targeted investment in bilingual and culturally competent educators, who are essential in a city as diverse as New York.

Philanthropy has played an important, though necessarily limited, role in piloting and scaling elements of this work. Institutions such as the Robin Hood Foundation have demonstrated the impact of investments in coaching, wraparound supports, and sectoral strategies. However, these models achieve scale only when integrated into public systems and supported by sustained public funding.

From a policy perspective, staff retention should be understood not as a downstream outcome, but as a leading indicator of system quality.

3. Administrative and operational systems must be aligned to support workforce participation.

Even well-designed workforce pathways will underperform if the wider system remains unstable. Providers consistently report challenges related to delayed payments, fragmented contracting processes, and variable enrollment. These factors directly affect their ability to hire, retain, and invest in staff.

From an institutional standpoint, these are failures of system design rather than implementation. If reimbursement timelines are unpredictable, providers cannot offer stable wages. If enrollment systems are misaligned, staffing becomes responsive rather than strategic.

The legislation’s inclusion of child care supports for participants is important. But a complete approach requires modernizing contracting, improving payment systems, and greater coordination across administering agencies.

In short, workforce policy cannot be separated from administrative reform.

Stepping back, the early childhood workforce should be understood within the wider context of New York City’s labor market and economic development strategy.

Across sectors—including health care, infrastructure, and public service—we observe similar patterns: persistent vacancies, fragmented training systems, and underutilized talent.

This is why NYCETC has consistently advanced the position that workforce development constitutes core economic infrastructure.

It is the mechanism through which public investments translate into employment, wages, and mobility outcomes. It is also central to the City’s affordability agenda. Without access to stable, well-compensated employment, cost-of-living interventions alone are insufficient.

The significance of this moment lies in the degree of institutional alignment.

The Council, the Administration, higher education systems, providers, labor, and philanthropic actors are increasingly converging around a common understanding: that early childhood is essential infrastructure.

The question is whether we will build the workforce system required to sustain it.

The way forward is clear:

  • Integrate SYEP and other entry points into structured career pathways.
  • Align education, labor, and training systems around credentials and outcomes.
  • Invest in wage growth and advancement to stabilize the workforce.
  • And modernize administrative systems to support providers and workers alike.

If we do so, the returns are significant and measurable: increased labor force participation among parents, improved child outcomes, reduced turnover costs, and stronger long-term earnings trajectories for workers.

In that sense, this is not simply a sectoral intervention.

It amounts to a strategic investment in the City’s economic capacity.

Workforce development is not adjacent to child care policy—it is the enabling condition that makes universal child care feasible. Thank you.

Watch the hearing

Gregory J. Morris Testifies at April 15, 2026 Hearing on Early Childhood Educator Talent Pipeline

Watch Gregory J. Morris, Chief Executive Officer, NYCETC testify at the hearing on early childhood educator workforce development (starting at 2 hours and 57 minutes). Additionally, read our joint statement with the Day Care Council of New York.