Broome County seeks to address staffing shortages by pausing civil service exam

(WBNG) -- Broome County announced it’s participating in New York State’s Hiring Emergency Limited Placement, or HELP, program.

The program was created to assist local governments address staffing shortages in health and safety-related positions. In Broome County, the temporary program is available for those interested in positions such as: Support investigator, social service examiner, caseworker, caseworker trainee, public health sanitarian and emergency services dispatcher.

Currently, there are 66 openings across these six titles in Broome County. Officials said they hope the new program will encourage people to apply.

“Some people are not good test takers, but otherwise strong candidates with good experience and they don’t want to have to wait for the test to be given and so on,” said Broome County Executive Jason Garnar. “The civil service test really is a pretty big detriment to getting people to apply for these types of positions.”

Officials said individuals hired before July 24, 2024 will not need to take the examination.

For more information, follow this link.

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