According to a new report, NYC Mayor Eric Adams is collecting photos of those applying for city jobs, in an effort to increase diversity.
Adams has supposedly requested city agencies to provide photographs of potential hires to City Hall as candidates go through the interview process for city jobs ranging from assistant commissioner to departmental press secretary.
Source: Gothamist (MICHAEL APPLETON / MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE)
While Adams maintains that this will merely help him recognize his employees in the sprawling city workforce, several officials are saying this is clearly a move to ensure more diverse workers are being appointed.
“Everyone knew what it was. There was no question. It was the first thing everybody said: ‘We’re going to start counting complexions now,’” one recently-departed City Hall employee told Politico.
While most employees were in support of the diverse workforce, most were also put off by the fact that maybe the Mayor was putting more of an effort on race and ethnicity rather than merit.
Some workers also said the headshot request created another snag in the hiring process, which went against the mayor’s signature motto of “get stuff done” at a time when city job vacancies are unusually high. About 8 percent of municipal jobs were vacant as of April, according to data from the Citizens Budget Commission. “The whole hiring process this City Hall set up is difficult enough, and the photo requirement just takes it from hard to bizarre and uncomfortable,” another high-ranking agency official said.
This being said, Adams maintained that the photo requests are a way for him to learn and recognize the faces of who he employs.
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