Sears, Allstate join free employment site
(Crain’s) — From Sears Holdings Corp. to Allstate Corp., local companies have joined a consortium offering a free online job
and employee-matching service.
The nine-firm consortium, called United We Work, aims to jumpstart hiring amid the recession by allowing member companies
access to a pool of job candidates, minus the high costs that come with hiring search firms and placing job advertisements.
“Our goal is that if we can remove all of the fees that employers pay, then they will think about hiring someone now as
opposed to next year,” says Jason Kerr, founder and CEO of QuietAgent, the Chicago-based software company that built the
database.
Last year, U.S. companies spent about $60 billion on recruitment, job postings and other advertisements to draw in new
employees, Mr. Kerr says. UnitedWeWork.org will be free for all companies through the end of 2009; people seeking work on
the site are not charged.
Next year, companies with more than 100 employees will pay $35 per hire made through the site.
Other participants include Starbucks Coffee Co., AT&T Inc., Hyatt Hotels & Resorts and 7-Eleven Inc.
So far, there are about 8,500 job openings and 350,000 résumés posted on the site. Both are expected to rise through the year,
Mr. Kerr says.
No comments:
Post a Comment