Heroes hired from the Goblin Town Hall can pick up items, but they don't have an Item menu, so they can't use them. This doesn't appear to be an issue with Dwarves or Germanics.
Thanks :) It was an issue with the goblin magnate in particular, who didn't have inventory buttons assigned to it. I've fixed it now in the latest commit.
Heroes hired from the Goblin Town Hall can pick up items, but they don't have an Item menu, so they can't use them. This doesn't appear to be an issue with Dwarves or Germanics.