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NYC Workforce1: The Free Job Placement and Career Service Most Young New Yorkers Have Never Heard Of

If you’re job hunting in New York City, there’s a free service that offers resume help, one-on-one career coaching, job referrals, and connections to free training programs — at 18 locations across all five boroughs. Most young New Yorkers have never walked through the door.

It’s called Workforce1, and it’s run by the NYC Department of Small Business Services. It’s not just for people who’ve been laid off — it’s for anyone 18 or older who is legally authorized to work in the US and wants to find a better job, a first job, or a path into a new field.

Who This Helps

Recent grads who just finished a degree or semester and don’t know where to start. Young professionals looking to switch industries. New Yorkers who’ve been applying online without callbacks. Immigrants with work authorization who need help navigating U.S. job search culture. Anyone who can’t afford a private career coach — but deserves the same level of preparation.

What Workforce1 Actually Does For You

Workforce1 is not a job board. It’s a full-service career center with real human advisors. Here’s what you get at no cost:

Help Finding a Job

  • Direct referrals to job openings from NYC employers — many not posted on public job boards
  • Job search tools and strategies tailored to your field and experience level
  • Access to hiring events where you can interview directly with employers

Help Preparing

  • Personalized one-on-one career counseling
  • Resume and cover letter writing assistance
  • Job interview coaching and mock interviews
  • Career workshops on salary negotiation, networking, and professional presence

Access to Free Training

  • Connections to free or subsidized training programs in healthcare, technology, construction trades, and transportation
  • Referrals to credentialing and certification programs that employers in those sectors require

How to Get Started

Walk in or schedule an appointment at the Workforce1 center nearest to you. Your first visit typically involves an intake meeting where a career advisor assesses your background, goals, and which services would help most. After that, you can return for workshops, job referrals, and one-on-one sessions as needed. There’s no enrollment fee and no limit on how many times you can use the service.

Schedule a visit: Connect with the Workforce1 Team online or call 311.

Workforce1 Career Center Locations — All Five Boroughs

The Bronx

  • Bronx Workforce1 Career Center — 400 East Fordham Road, 8th Floor (entrance on Webster Avenue), Bronx, NY 10458
  • Hunts Point Workforce1 Career Center — 1029 East 163rd Street, 3rd Floor, Bronx, NY 10459
  • West Farms Workforce1 Career Center — 901 East Tremont Avenue, 2nd Floor, Bronx, NY 10460
  • Bronx Workforce1 Industrial and Transportation Career Center — 14 Bruckner Boulevard, 3rd Floor, Bronx, NY 10454

Brooklyn

  • Brooklyn Workforce1 Career Center — 9 Bond Street, 5th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201
  • East New York Workforce1 Career Center — 2617 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11207
  • Brooklyn Workforce1 Industrial and Transportation Career Center — Brooklyn Army Terminal, 140 58th Street, Building B Lobby, Brooklyn, NY 11220
  • Coney Island Workforce1 Career Center — Operating Virtually (Brooklyn, NY 11224)

Manhattan

  • Upper Manhattan Workforce1 Career Center — 215 West 125th Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10027
  • Washington Heights Workforce1 Career Center — 516 West 181st Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10033
  • Healthcare Workforce1 Career Center — 14 Wall Street, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10005

Queens

  • Queens Workforce1 Career Center — 168-25 Jamaica Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11432
  • Far Rockaway Workforce1 Career Center — 57-17 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Arverne, NY 11692
  • Flushing Workforce1 Career Center — 41-17 Main Street, 3rd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355
  • Workforce1 Industrial and Transportation Career Center — 168-46 91st Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11432
  • Long Island City Workforce1 Industrial and Transportation Career Center — 47-10 Austell Place, Long Island City, NY 11101

Staten Island

  • Staten Island Workforce1 Career Center — 120 Stuyvesant Place, 3rd Floor, Staten Island, NY 10301

View all Workforce1 locations on a map

Specialized Centers Worth Knowing

Beyond general career centers, Workforce1 runs sector-specific locations that are especially useful for young New Yorkers trying to break into specific industries:

  • Healthcare Workforce1 Career Center (14 Wall Street, Manhattan) — specializes in healthcare career pathways, from entry-level roles to credentialed positions, with direct employer connections to NYC Health+Hospitals and other major healthcare systems
  • Industrial and Transportation Career Centers (Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island) — for careers in logistics, manufacturing, transportation, and skilled trades — sectors with strong salaries that don’t require a four-year degree

The Virtual Option

Can’t make it in person? NYC offers a Virtual Workforce1 Career Center with online workshops, virtual job fairs, and remote career counseling. Access it at nyc.gov/sbs — Virtual Workforce1 or through jobready.nyc.gov.

Why Workforce1 Beats Just Applying Online

Most online applications disappear without a response. Workforce1’s value is in two things job boards can’t offer: human advisors who know which employers are actively hiring and can coach you through their specific process — and direct employer relationships that create interview pathways that never get posted publicly. For someone newer to the professional world, navigating application culture, or trying to break into an unfamiliar field, that human layer is genuinely valuable. And it costs nothing.

How to Take Action

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