Building a labor rocket ship!
Building a national labor exchange might not be “Rocket Science“, although it’s far from an easy task and does not happen overnight.
Last week I was lucky enough to spend some quality time with the Connecticut Department of Labor staff, as a consultant, helping with the transition from America’s Job Bank to the new JobCentral, National Labor Exchange. I was happy to hear about JobCentral’s immediate and extremely positive impact on “the long tail” of employers and job seekers in their market, not solely the Fortune 500. Unfortunately most “industry experts”, who are the outside of this science, cannot comprehend more than the web they know; since connecting with the tail is far more than providing slick technology or distribution services.
As I sat in meetings throughout the week, I recalled my early days of online recruiting at Online Career Center, and even later during the launch of Monster.com, when seekers weren’t so savvy and employers needed much more hand-holding. This new labor exchange effort is bringing a segment of workers and employers to the web that are NOT 2.0, and in more need of this tool than ultra-savvy Starbucks wielding corporate hipsters, like me.
Stories have been written, and will be written again, about how AJB is dearly missed and how Chicken Little was right, although as we move forward I believe we all need to remember that change and adversity bring out the best in all of us. Just remember the sky isn’t falling, it’s just approaching much faster due to this new labor exchange rocket ship built through continued collaboration of state workforce and companies nationwide, fueled by evolving labor market efficiencies and opportunity.
Hmmmm, maybe it is rocket science after all?
