The bureaucracy of New York's workforce development programs needs to be better coordinated and unified, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office found in an audit released last week.

There are more than 500 development programs, but those are spread out over nearly two dozen different state agencies and public authorities, which lack a functioning governing body to aid with planning and ensure needs of New York residents are being met.

“Workforce development is crucial to help New York recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the programs across the state lack leadership and coordination,” DiNapoli said. “As the lead agency in workforce development, the Department of Labor needs to pay closer attention to what is needed to better manage these programs and get our state back to work. Employment recovery in New York is lagging behind the rest of the country and these programs are critical for helping New Yorkers find well-paying jobs and businesses find qualified employees.”

The audit was released amid what is nationally a tight labor market, though New York's unemployment rate last month remained higher than the rest of the country overall on average.

Among the issues include transportation barriers and the number of potential users per career center that could make it difficult for people to access programs and services. There is one career center in 24 of the state's most rural counties. Greene and Hamilton counties do not have a career center.

Meanwhile, a board meant to oversee and coordinate programs has been inactive for several years, the audit found.

The comptroller's office called for a variety of changes, including the replacement of board members, development of a new and integrated workforce development system and addressing overlap and duplication of services.