Collaborative alliance to develop real-time, interactive tools for job seekers, employers and states
The National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) was awarded one of the first Convergence Accelerator (C-Accel) grants by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Phase 1 funding grant will support a collaboration between NASWA, BrightHive, and the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research to develop a set of dynamic and interactive tools for job seekers through a cloud-hosted warehouse of job openings from the National Labor Exchange (NLx).
This award was granted as part of the C-Accel Al and Future Jobs track, which aims to find new ways to use artificial intelligence to connect workers with jobs of the future. During Phase 1, the collaborative alliance will build a cloud-hosted warehouse of NLx data, create protocols for making raw job listing data available to researchers and the public, and develop use cases for worker- and learner-centered career exploration tools for job seekers, employers, and states. This work will be the foundation of a second proposal for Phase 2 funding in the first quarter of 2020.
“The real-time labor market information collected from NLx job openings will help job seekers and learners plan their careers, support employers’ recruitment activities, and inform state workforce development investments,” said Scott B. Sanders, NASWA Executive Director. “We’re excited to explore research insights and opportunities while providing valuable data back to the public workforce system.”
Created through a public-private partnership between NASWA and DirectEmployers Association, the NLx collects and distributes job openings found on corporate career sites, state job banks. The NLx has been a vital resource to state workforce agencies and the broader public workforce system for over a decade; however, the research potential for its high-quality data has not yet been realized. Currently, there are over 2.4 million active listings in the NLx for job seekers and over 100 million historical listings for researchers to explore.
In addition to collaborative efforts between NASWA, BrightHive, and the W.E. Upjohn Institute, an Advisory Workgroup will be created to provide input on data product development and labor market analysis. Members of the Advisory Workgroup will include representatives from the NASWA Workforce & Labor Market Information and Employment & Training committees, DirectEmployers, LinkedIn, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. NASWA’s research arm, the Center for Employment Security Education and Research, is the formal awardee of the C-Accel grant.
National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) is the organization representing all 50 state workforce agencies, D.C. and U.S. territories. These agencies deliver training, employment, career, and business services, in addition to administering the unemployment insurance, veteran reemployment, and labor market information programs. NASWA provides policy expertise, shares promising state practices, and promotes state innovation and leadership in workforce development.
DirectEmployers is a nonprofit member-owned and -managed association focused on providing its 920+ members with simple solutions for OFCCP compliance and online recruitment challenges. The Association’s proprietary technology powers a federal contractor compliance solution that assists with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program’s (OFCCP) VEVRAA mandatory listing requirements and Section 503 outreach requirements, while also offering recruitment marketing and creative services that help win the best candidates with a combination of vivid recruitment videos, real-life photos, and bold branding through its wholly owned subsidiary, Recruit Rooster.
BrightHive helps organizations, networks and communities securely and responsibly link their data to enhance their impact, empower individual and collective decision making and increase equity of opportunity. BrightHive Data Trusts provide a legal, technical, and governance framework that empowers a collective of organizations to securely connect their respective data sources and create new shared data resources, empowering them to better coordinate action, measure their impact and be more responsive to the current and future information needs of their community.
W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization devoted to finding and promoting solutions to employment-related problems.
Media Contact:
Michelle Marshel, Director of External Affairs
Phone: (202) 999-0168 | Email: mmarshel@naswa.org
