(The Center Square) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has launched a new state government hiring push to recruit federal workers laid off by the Trump administration.
Hochul’s “you’re hired” campaign, unveiled on Monday, seeks to fill 7,000 public sector jobs with federal government employees that have been shown the door during President Donald Trump’s first month in the White House.
“Here’s my message to any public sector worker who suddenly finds himself out of a job: New York does want you, New York needs you; come work in the greatest state in the nation,” Hochul said in remarks on Monday.
To lure fired federal employees into the state’s workforce, the Hochul administration unveiled a new digital ad campaign that features an image of the Statue of Liberty with the caption: “DOGE said you’re fired? We say you’re hired! New York wants you!” The ads went up in Union Station on Monday, the Hochul administration said.
“We won’t denigrate you, we will treat you with dignity and respect that you deserve because in New York, we know it’s not the demagogues and the technocrats who make America great, it’s public servants,” Hochul said.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Feb. 11 directing the federal government to implement a “workforce optimization initiative” that includes “large-scale reductions” in the federal government. Trump said the cost-cutting will benefit Americans by reducing the size and cost of the federal government.
The Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire Elon Musk, has moved quickly to reduce the size of the federal government since the order was issued, which is impacting federal workers in states across the country. Thousands have been fired, while many others have accepted a “deferred resignation” proposal in exchange for financial incentives.
Roughly 3 million people were on the federal payroll as of November, including the 600,000 employees of the U.S. Postal Service, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about 2% of the nation’s civilian workforce, the agency says.
While Democrats have largely condemned DOGE’s work, Republican governors have embraced the agency’s efforts, and some are even moving to replicate it in their states.
On Monday, a group of Democratic lawmakers called on Trump to fire Musk and reinstate the federal workers, alleging that many of those who have been let go will benefit the billionaire and his business operations.
“Nearly all of your decisions you made about who to fire appear to benefit Mr. Musk, and many target individuals and agencies that are currently investigating or prosecuting Mr. Musk or his companies for unlawful behavior,” the lawmakers wrote. “Many of these individuals have legal protections dictating why and how they can be removed from office.”
