Site offers information on 575,000 jobs

The state Department of Labor and Workforce Development Tuesday launched “www.Jobs4Jersey.com,” a website that attempts to more quickly link New Jersey’s over 390,000 jobless with potential employers.

Officials describe the site as a virtual one-stop place to bring people searching for work together with the businesses considered at the forefront of New Jersey’s economic development. Officials said employers and job-seekers alike will find the website to be a quick and easy portal to the vast and previously scattered assortment of state and federal data, weblinks and programs designed to assist them both with training, financial assistance and advice.

“As we work to help New Jersey businesses grow, we must at the same time concentrate our efforts on assisting our valuable workforce find meaningful employment opportunities,” Gov. Chris Christie said. “The Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s website can help connect the businesses that are creating these jobs to the New Jerseyans who want them by bringing the same one-stop approach that we’ve used at more than 30 One-Stop Centers throughout the state.”

Designed to be an easy-to-use navigation site, the site is designed to guide people to some of New Jersey’s best online tools for finding work, finding skilled employees and connecting to the many programs established to help businesses and workers.

Some of the features found at www.Jobs4Jersey.com include:

For Job-Seekers: Interactive Job Bank: A resource offering information on over 165,000 jobs inside the state and another 410,000 jobs within a 50 mile radius of New Jersey.

Career Assessment: A government link that guides people in assessing their skills, job interests, educational needs and the likelihood of finding a job in the fields they explore.

Talent Networks: Workforce programs provided through employers and educational institutions that help transition workers from disappearing job sectors into potential careers in such growing areas as life sciences and green industries.

Training: Learn about educational opportunities, financial aid, training grants, apprenticeships and the state's Consumer Report Card to evaluate training providers.

One Stop Career Centers: Information on the location and services available at more than 30 regional Department of Labor offices that offer job-seekers access to computers, phones and copy machines.

For Employers: Interactive job bank: A data bank where businesses may instantaneously post job opportunities and search the resumes posted by job-seekers.

Expert advice: A portal to the state’s Business Representatives who help companies with needs consultation, employee recruitment services, new and incumbent worker training grants, hiring incentives and government navigation.

Grants: Information on Customized Training Grants and Literacy Grants that help companies remain competitive by improving the workplace skills of their existing workers and open the possibility of expanding their operations by training new workers.

Incentive programs: From tax credits to funding through several On-the-Job training programs that give employers financial assistance to expand their staff and ultimately their business operations.

One Stop Career Centers: Learn about how our more than 30 regional offices are not just for job-seekers, but also for business owners who need help building their future.

“We know more than half of the people involved in a job search in our state are surfing the Internet for positions, whether it is from home, at our many One Stop Career Centers or at a local library,” Labor Commissioner Harold J. Wirths said. “This website is a means to more quickly steer them to businesses in need of skilled workers, and hopefully we can get those businesses growing as we put people on a path toward full-time employment and a new career.”

— TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM