DirectEmployers Member and IBM Recruiting Brand Manager Ray Schreyer accompanied National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) President Bonnie Elsey to the 9th annual World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES) World Congress in Seoul, South Korea.
Also referred to as WWC 2012, this year’s event was visited by over 300 network members from more than 50 countries, in addition to partners from international organizations and the private sector. The main topic was “Public Employment Service and Change Management.” WAPES produced a terrific video about the conference that shares more in-depth coverage.
Ray Schreyer and Bonnie Elsey (left two panelists) at the start of “Public private partnership” workshop.
Ray and Bonnie participated in the “Public private partnership” workshop, which featured a panel comprised of 5 speakers from across the globe. Bonnie started the session by highlighting U.S. Public Workforce System, funding, the unemployment insurance system and an overview of NASWA. From there, Ray discussed DirectEmployers Association including why we were formed, our member base and the services we provide. He then explained the .JOBS Universe build out, emphasizing the importance of it being owned and managed by employers while serving as a trusted source for job content.
Bonnie followed up discussing why NASWA moved forward with DirectEmployers as a partner for the National Labor Exchange (NLX), which current resides on a .JOBS domain (US.jobs), and reiterated Ray’s point about the importance of being employer-owned and managed; not a company that owns a job board.
Bonnie also discussed some stats around the NLX and how it serves the states. Minnesota, for example, accepts jobs from DirectEmployers that have up to a 100 mile radius from the state border in their job bank since many people are willing to make that commute. The NLX also provides indexing, and valuable job seeker traffic analytics.
The future of the NLX was also covered, including how job seeker behavior has shifted. Ray pointed out a substantial increase in the use of search engines by job seekers, whereas use of company career sites is declining. In addition, he discussed the emergence of mobile and social media and the need to having content optimized accordingly.
A recording of their session and slides are available on the WAPES website:
http://webcast.richcast.eu/webinar/105401
This opportunity helped ongoing efforts to build awareness of DirectEmployers and NASWA to an international audience. WAPES will be the focus at the upcoming NASWA Winter Policy Forum at the Capital Hill Hyatt, February 21-22, 2013. More information will be available closer to the event on NASWA.org.
Kudos to Ray and Bonnie – we are all very proud!
