By Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
New Mexico officials are encouraging any federal government workers fired or laid off by the Trump administration to apply for state unemployment insurance, and look for a new job with state government.
Since the beginning of February, 140 people have filed unemployment insurance claims with the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions and indicated their last employer was a federal agency, Cabinet Secretary Sarita Nair said at a news conference on Monday morning.
Applicants included people from Albuquerque, Carlsbad, Santa Fe, Rio Rancho, Las Cruces, Questa, Rockford, San Antonio, Tijeras, Tres Piedras and Trout Lakes, she said.
If someone has lost their job at a federal agency or a federal contractor, New Mexico state officials want everyone to file an unemployment insurance claim, she said.
State officials don’t know if those claims will be granted or not, she said, but the applications will provide state officials the ability to contact former federal workers about recruitment, hiring fairs and other activities. Eligibility for unemployment benefits depends on the circumstances of a worker’s separation, Nair said. Find more information online.
State Personnel Office Director Dylan Lange said federal workers impacted by decisions made by the federal government can get help applying for a new job from a state government recruiter by calling (505) 476-7759 or emailing applicant.support@spo.nm.gov.
“If you’re interested in making better outcomes for New Mexico, we have a spot for you here in the state government,” Lange said.
Nearly 20% of state government jobs in New Mexico are vacant.
“Any layoff is incredibly difficult, especially for the people’s families who are impacted, but if we can capture these folks for the other businesses and government agencies who need them, then we can have some great new beginnings and new opportunities,” Nair said.
New Mexico has approximately 30,000 federal workers, including approximately 2,200 who are in their probationary periods, meaning they’d recently been hired or changed positions, Nair said. The Trump administration has targeted employees in their probationary periods with its firings.
Nair said state officials do not know how many people from the two national laboratories in New Mexico have been let go. Firings at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Los Alamos field office included the site’s emergency preparedness manager, the radiation protection manager, the security manager, the fire protection engineer and two facility representatives, The Bulwark reported on Friday.
Economic Development Department Secretary Rob Black said “a higher concentration” of layoffs are happening among people working in the U.S. Forest Service and the National Parks Service. Workers have also lost their jobs at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Energy, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Agriculture.
State officials are treating the situation like they treat natural disasters, Nair said. The department’s existing “Tiger Team” handles federal unemployment claims, she said, and it can “ramp up” with more staff if needed.
“We’re going to treat the federal government just like we do every other employer, and we’re going to stick to the established law in New Mexico,” Nair said. “That’s why we’re encouraging everyone to apply, because the worst that can happen is we say, ‘no,’ but then you’re in our system to apply for new jobs.”
Black said his agency can cover some of new hires’ wages through its Job Training Incentive Program.
“In Washington, D.C. right now you have a lot of folks who are very interested in saying ‘you’re fired,’” Black said. “Here in New Mexico, we prefer to say, ‘You’re hired.’”
Source New Mexico is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Source New Mexico maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Goldberg for questions: info@sourcenm.com.
With this move, I am convinced that the people running this state from MLG on down are complete and utter idiots.
I was convinced before that.