With thousands of former federal workers likely looking for new jobs thanks to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and its efforts to slash the size of the government, Governor Hochul is encouraging them to move to New York and take jobs in state government.

On Monday, digital ads appeared in Union Station at Washington, and the Moynihan Train Hall at New York City featuring the Statue of Liberty.

“DOGE said you’re fired? We say: You’re hired,” the ad reads. 

In a statement about the ads, Ms. Hochul said, “The current regime in Washington may not recognize your talents, but I can assure you New York state does.”

“We don’t vilify public servants. We value you,” she added.

In a separate video, the governor encouraged fired federal workers to “join our New York State family.”

The campaign fails to note that New York is consistently ranked as one of the most expensive states in the country to live in — ranking behind only Hawaii, California, and Massachusetts — and the worst state in the nation in terms of the overall tax burden on state residents. The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that the average annual cost of living in the state is $58,571. 

The ads come as the federal government has laid off thousands of federal workers since President Trump took office. Additionally, roughly 75,000 federal employees have accepted buyout offers to leave their jobs. 

The cuts have hit a variety of federal agencies, from the U.S. Forest Service, which laid off about 2,000 probationary employees, to the Defense Department, which said in a February 21 press release that it aimed to cut about 5,400 probationary workers. 

The Internal Revenue Service announced it was laying off at least 5,000 employees in the middle of tax season. Meanwhile, the U.S. Agency for International Development eliminated 2,000 positions and put the rest of its staff on administrative leave. 

The Trump administration has directed federal agencies to review nearly 220,000 employees in probationary periods, individuals who typically have been in their position for less than two years, to determine whether they should be dismissed. 

While the administration is looking to cut the size of government, it is facing hurdles from legal challenges. On Thursday, a federal district court judge, William Alsup, ordered the Office of Personnel Management to withdraw directives to several federal agencies to fire probationary workers.

Mr. Alsup issued a temporary restraining order that applied to agencies that have an impact on the civic organizations that filed a challenge to the firings. Those agencies include the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Park Service, the Small Business Administration, the Bureau of Land Management, the Defense Department, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. 

Several fired employees are slated to show up to President Trump’s joint speech to Congress on Tuesday evening as guests of Democratic lawmakers in an attempt to showcase what they say is the human toll of DOGE’s cost-cutting efforts.