Today, DirectEmployers Association and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) celebrate the 10th anniversary of the National Labor Exchange (NLx) – a sophisticated electronic labor exchange that leverages private, nonprofit owned technology and existing state workforce agency resources to collect and distribute jobs found exclusively on corporate career sites and state job banks. Over the past 10 years, DirectEmployers and NASWA have made their NLx vision a reality by pioneering new resources for employers, state workforce agencies, veterans representatives and job seekers, while also establishing the NLx as a recognized source of vetted and verified jobs by all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam.
“DirectEmployers has always been driven by the entrepreneurial spirit of our founder, Bill Warren, and this dedication to innovation has enabled us to push the boundaries of the HR industry – and continue our development of the NLx with our partners at NASWA,” commented Candee Chambers, DirectEmployers Acting Executive Director. “The NLx is the recognized resource it is today because of the hard work and dedication from our state partners, employers and technology team. I’m proud of the milestones we’ve accomplished in this ever-changing industry. I’m excited to move the NLx forward into new areas of growth to provide resources and tools that cut down the inefficiencies seen in the job market.”
Since forming the NLx in 2007, DirectEmployers and NASWA have both championed the NLx as the premier resource for job content, serving over 75 million unique job openings from approximately 300,000 employers of all sizes and industry, and acted as the resource for both state and federal job banks–including American Job Center, CareerOneStop, My Next Move, My Next Move for Veterans, My Skills My Future, Summer.jobs, Virtual Career Network Healthcare and the Veterans Job Bank. Currently, the NLx distributes over 2.1 million jobs each day to its diversified network of sites ranging from state job banks, government portals, and the .JOBS Network of Sites.
“The NLx partnership between state workforce agencies and DirectEmployers has brought one-of-a-kind access to high quality and quantities of job openings,” said Scott B. Sanders, Executive Director of NASWA. “This is resulting in stronger connectivity between employers and jobseekers at no cost, and is playing a key role in rebuilding America’s workforce.”
Both DirectEmployers and NASWA have put priority upon ensuring that the NLx remains the trusted resource it is today. As part of its history, the NLx was developed organically by employers and state workforce agencies collaborating on how they could better assist one another and provide the transmittal of quality job content, and reduce the inefficiencies seen by both parties. Now, the NLx serves as a tool to help federal contractors fulfill the OFCCP’s Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) job listing requirements, and in turn has helped state workforce agencies meet hiring objectives, maximize budgetary funding and provide more job content without having to use additional time and resources dedicated to employer outreach efforts.
For the past 10 years the forward progression of the partnership has been determined by the NLx Steering Committee comprised of representatives from 10 employers, 10 state workforce agencies and DirectEmployers and NASWA staff members. The activities, industry insight and collaborative efforts have continued to bring awareness to the NLx and helped drive adoption and participation from all parties. It’s widespread adoption, signed data-sharing agreements with all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam have solidified the NLx as a unique, collaborative initiative never seen anywhere else across the globe.
In celebration of this tenured partnership, DirectEmployers and NASWA plan to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the NLx and its accomplishments throughout 2017. The celebration will begin at DirectEmployers 2017 Annual Meeting & Conference, May 9-11, 2017 in Indianapolis, IN at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Historic Union Station culminate at NASWA’s 2017 Workforce Summit, October 11-13, 2017 in Coeur d’Alene, ID.
About DirectEmployers Association
DirectEmployers Association is a nonprofit member-owned and managed association formed in 2001 by 14 leading Fortune 500 companies searching for a way to reduce recruiting costs, while regaining ownership of their recruitment brand. Through collaboration with these individuals, DirectEmployers developed proprietary technology that has since led to the creation of our flagship product—a federal contractor compliance solution that assists with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program’s (OFCCP) VEVRAA mandatory listing requirements and Section 503 regulations. Now with over 875 employers varying in industry and size, we’ve expanded our Member benefits to include a Partner Relationship Manager (PRM), networking and educational opportunities and fully customizable Recruitment Marketing Solutions.
About the National Association of State Workforce Agencies
The National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) represents the 50 state and three territory workforce agencies, which oversee the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act programs, employment services, unemployment insurance, employment statistics and labor market and workforce information programming. NASWA delivers policy expertise on these issues.
About the National Labor Exchange (NLx)
The NLx is a collaboration between employers and state workforce agencies to better assist one another, provide the transmittal of quality job content, and reduce the inefficiencies seen by both parties. This technology helps federal contractors fulfill the OFCCP’s Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) job listing requirements, while assisting state workforce agencies to meet hiring objectives, maximize budgetary funding and provide more job content without using additional time and resources dedicated to employer outreach efforts.
