New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Rob Black took a jab Monday at President Donald Trump’s reality TV background, saying, “In Washington, D.C., right now, you have a lot of folks who are interested in saying, ‘You’re fired.’
“Here in New Mexico,” Black said, “we prefer to say, ‘You’re hired.’ ”
Black joined Workforce Solutions Secretary Sarita Nair and State Personnel Director Dylan Lange in encouraging federal workers who may be the target of mass layoffs by the Trump administration to apply for unemployment benefits and sign up for job placement services.
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New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Rob Black answers questions during a news conference at the Roundhouse on Monday. Black said the firing of federal employees offers the department’s Job Incentive Training Program the chance to capture some of the laid-off federal workers.
Several area residents have reported to The New Mexican they were terminated from their positions with the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and there have been reports of terminations at national parks in the state. However, total numbers of cuts so far remain unclear.
The trio of high-ranking state officials gathered for a Monday morning news conference in the Roundhouse rotunda to speak about available state help, including a series of upcoming job fairs.
“The message here today is, if you lost your job with a federal agency or a federal contractor, we want everyone to file an unemployment insurance claim,” Nair said.
It isn’t yet clear if laid-off federal employees will be eligible for unemployment benefits, she said; still, she urged people to apply.
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Dylan Lange, director of the New Mexico State Personnel Office, promised some personal attention for laid-off federal workers who have skills New Mexico agencies can put to use. He encouraged them to register for job placement services as quickly as possible.
“We don’t know if they’ll be granted or not, but that gives us the ability to navigate your claim,” she said, adding, “The worst thing that can happen is we say no.”
Nair lamented the “ripples of uncertainty” the federal layoffs — those that already have taken place and others promised — have generated among workers in New Mexico. An estimated 30,000 federal workers reside in the state, she said, with approximately 2,200 of those characterized as still being under probationary status.
Probationary workers, typically those who are recent hires, are considered the most vulnerable to potential layoffs.
Employees of the Forest Service and the National Park Service appear to be among those hit hardest by the layoffs in New Mexico, Nair said.
In Carlsbad, for example, the home of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, her agency already has received 12 unemployment claims, she said. The Department of Workforce Solutions staff is seeking jobs for those former federal workers.
“We’re working hard to find opportunities in those communities,” Nair said.
Meanwhile, Black fretted over the impact layoffs might have on operations at the caverns, a major tourist draw for Eddy County. He said he hoped the layoffs don’t result in the park being closed a couple of days a week because of a staffing deficit.
He touted the Economic Development Department’s Job Incentive Training Program, which he said subsidizes the hiring of new employees at qualifying companies interested in growing their workforce. His agency is exploring how the program might be used to capture some laid-off federal workers.
“We’ll be making connections with those kinds of employers,” he said.
The Department of Workforce Solutions is planning a handful of job fairs around the state over the next two weeks. The first two will take place from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the America’s Job Center in Santa Fe at 525 Camino de los Marquez and in Albuquerque at 501 Mountain Road N.E.
The second round of fairs is planned March 7 in Carlsbad and Las Cruces.
Nair said a mix of public-sector and private-sector employers would be on hand at the events to make “robust” recruitment efforts, and they will be ready to hire qualified workers on the spot.
She acknowledged the layoffs may have a bit of a silver lining for state agencies that have not been able to compete with the federal government for talent.
Lange promised some personal attention for laid-off federal workers who have skills New Mexico agencies can put to use. He encouraged them to register for job placement services as quickly as possible.
“A state recruiter will contact you or will speak with you about how to manage your skills,” he said.
