Nearly 10K NYC Jobs Open For Asylum Seekers After Work Permit OK: Gov

NEW YORK CITY — Venezuelan asylum seekers will have the pick of nearly 10,000 jobs in New York City to put their new work permits to use, state officials said.

A state push to match migrants with work has identified more than 18,000 job openings with roughly 400 employers statewide, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday.

More than half those jobs — or 9,800 — are in New York City, according to data released by Hochul's office.

"That could help solve our problems," she said. "At least start toward reducing the number of people who need shelter in our city."

The job push came after President Joe Biden's administration recently granted Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, to an estimated 472,000 Venezuelans.

Doing so was long-sought by Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams, who both argued those effective work permits would help decrease more than 50,000 asylum seekers in the city's care.

Roughly a quarter of New York employers who've informed the state that they'd hire those asylum seekers are in the food services and accommodation industry.

Among those employers is Danny Meyer, the restaurateur behind Shake Shack and many other eateries.

Meyer said giving asylum seekers the ability to work gives restaurants the first real chance to staff up since the coronavirus pandemic.

"We can do this," he said.