Remember over the summer, when we first heard that beloved Midwestern chain Steak 'n Shake was coming to New York? Well, transplants and people who can't be bothered to wait two hours for Shake Shack, rejoice, for the burger joint is one step closer to opening this week. more ›

Even though the recession has been over for some time, it's still tough to find a job in the city. Many qualified graduates with diverse degrees have had to settle for jobs in service or retail to make ends meet while sending out countless resumes to accounting firms or publishing houses. Not that jobs in the service industry aren't great, they just aren't for everyone. So you can imagine how excited we got when a Daily News headline read, "Companies are looking to start staffing up again." Callooh! Callay! Jobs for everyone! And then we read further: "Many of the businesses currently looking for staff are retailers, restaurants and hotels, all of whom are gearing up for the influx of tourists for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays." more ›

Earlier this week, a judge who blocked the FDNY from hiring recruits (because he found the FDNY's previous three recruitment exams discriminated against nonwhites) offered the city three options to hire 300 recruits. However, the city declined, saying, "The City respectfully believes that using raced-based quotas to select firefighters is both illegal and unwise public policy." more ›

Though he found the FDNY's hiring practices racist, saying they discriminated against black and Hispanic firefighter candidates, federal judge Nicholas Garaufis offered the city a compromise to allow the FDNY to hire 300 more recruits from the Fire Academy. Here are his suggested approaches, via the Post: "Randomly selecting enrollees from the top 2,500 scorers on the last test. To increase the pool of black and Hispanic candidates, the city would eliminate the lowest-scoring whites in the group and add the highest-scoring minorities who did not make the top 2,500..." more ›

It is hardly surprising that American Apparel bases new hires on physical appearance, so today's Gawker exposé will probably get a smaller gasp than one's first glance at the company's Nylon Spandex Stretch Floral Lace Unitard would (seriously that thing will never cease to amaze us). more ›

Four days after the entire staff walked out on Park Slope's Gorilla Coffee, they finally put up a sign explaining their future plans. They write, "Gorilla Coffee will be closed temporarily as we rebuild and restaff this store. We feel committed to open soon out of love for this neighborhood, our regulars and great coffee." The workers walked out after not being able to stand the "perpetually malicious, hostile, and demeaning work environment" anymore. But for anyone in the area willing to endure months of rigorous training, they're hiring! [Via Brownstoner] more ›

This spring the city's hiring freeze may finally thaw. According to a new study lots of New York businesses say they’ll take on new employees in the coming months. Sixteen percent of the 18,000 companies surveyed said hiring was in the cards; that’s 4 percent more than last quarter. NY1 says just nine percent will make job cuts, down from twice that much in the previous count. We'll believe it when we see it, but stats say construction workers will find sites-a-plenty. As for finance, that industry's still on lockdown. more ›

A Moroccan immigrant claims he has been barred from becoming a police officer because he's a Muslim and because he was not born in America. After passing the police exam in 2006 with a score of 85.6—"well above the passing grade"—Said Hajem's application "has been suspended in bureaucratic limbo," the Times reports. According to Hajem, that's because an officer reviewing his paperwork sabotaged his application because he didn't want people from "other countries" joining the NYPD. more ›

Even though Mayor Bloomberg says he might be forced to lay off 18,500 city workers—including 8,500 teachers, 3,150 police officers, and 1,050 firefighters—he has hired 15 members of his campaign staff. The Times notes that as the Mayor calls for "a leaner government that reflects the economic downturn, he is finding money in the budget for those who engineered his unexpectedly close re-election," paying many of the City Hall newcomers six-figure salaries and allowing several other city workers who left their jobs to work on the campaign to return to their posts with higher pay. more ›

The FDNY had some good stats last year, but none relating to diversity. Today, a federal judge ruled that the force’s hiring procedures intentionally discriminate against blacks and Hispanics. He said that for decades people of color have been systematically excluded, and called the practice “a persistent stain on the Fire Department’s record." more ›

Forget emailing resumes – if you want to compete in today’s tough job market, you’ve got to be willing to sacrifice a little dignity. Or in Joshua Persky’s case, a lot of dignity: The unemployed financial engineer is trying to land a job by standing on Park Avenue wearing a big sign reading “Experienced MIT Graduate for Hire.” Wait – it gets more depressing; Persky needs a job fast so he can afford an apartment when his wife and five children move away to Nebraska next week. Maybe there's room on the sign to add "Roommate Available"? more ›