America's Top Employers Launch Initiative to Help Match Jobs With the Unique Skills Veterans Bring to the Marketplace

INDIANAPOLIS, April 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- DirectEmployers Association (www.directemployers.org), a non-profit consortium of over 600 leading U.S. employers, today announced an extensive online program to assist transitioning military personnel in all branches of our armed forces, their spouses, dependents, and caregivers in quickly and efficiently finding employment.  The program will provide military personnel and their dependents access to more than 860,000 employment opportunities from over 90,000 employers nationwide. 

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The Association announced that over 5,800 dot-jobs (.jobs) domains have been added to the .Jobs Universe (www.universe.jobs) to create employment services for returning veterans (www.veterans.jobs) and their families. The domains use the Military Occupational Classification (MOC) Crosswalk to assist military personnel in transitioning from active duty to employment opportunities in the civilian workforce. Transitioning military personnel can enter their MOC plus .jobs into their browser to locate civilian occupations requiring the same or similar skills as their previous military job (e.g. www.42F.jobs, www.25B.jobs, www.2891.jobs).

The .Jobs Universe will also provide a Military Family (www.militaryfamily.jobs) feature.  This is designed to help military spouses, dependents and caregivers quickly locate employment while their loved ones are serving our country. Military families can enter the name of their military installation plus the intuitive .jobs suffix into their browser and receive a list of employment opportunities on their assigned base or in surrounding cities (e.g. www.CampPendleton.jobs, www.NewportNewsShipyard.jobs, www.FtKnox.jobs).

Tom Embrescia, Chairman & CEO Employ Media (.jobs) said, “This new effort to assist our veterans and their families is further demonstration of the value and benefit of the .jobs platform.  It is free for both the employer and the job seeker and it is organized to fit the way people use the Internet to search for jobs and the way companies go about attracting specific skills and experience with no artificial barriers in between.   With the extra steps taken to ensure that only legitimate job listings from real companies are included, veterans and their families can have confidence in using this service to submit their background information over the Internet.”

"This is a great program for the entire human resource community as well as our transitioning military and their families. I am very proud to be a part of this exciting initiative in support of those who have unselfishly given so much for our nation," states, Rhonda Stickley, a six-year U.S. Army veteran and current human resource executive at Seattle-based Providence Health & Services.

DirectEmployers' new military .jobs initiative expands the potential of an already established and robust partnership with the public sector, the National Labor Exchange (NLX).  Offered in partnership with the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA), the NLX is a free, job-search engine feeding job openings into 50 publicly-funded state job banks.   This has substantially increased offerings to all jobseekers, and especially veterans.  Since March 2007, the NLX has provided over 9 million, unduplicated, current jobs to state workforce agency staff dedicated to serving veterans.  The NLX uses no federal funds for operations, research, or development.  Rather, this unique public-private partnership leverages private, non-profit-owned technology with existing state workforce agency resources to enhance offerings to veterans.

The NLX partners are looking forward to continuing their work with the Obama Administration and the U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) to offer comprehensive, coordinated services to returning service members and military families.  DirectEmployers shares VETS' vision and commitment to expand career opportunities for Veterans, transitioning service members, and their families.

Alicia Wallace, EEO Program Consultant for WellPoint and a military veteran whose husband is a retired infantry officer, says, "I salute all companies supporting these outstanding military programs. As a nation, we should do all we can for the gallant men and women who serve in our armed forces. These individuals and their families have made great sacrifices for our country and deserve all the gratitude and support we can provide."

About DirectEmployers Association

DirectEmployers Association, Inc. is a 501(c)(6) non-profit, 600 plus member employer association.

As provided in its corporate bylaws, the business and affairs of the Association are managed by a board of directors consisting of member company representatives. Daily operations are managed by an executive director and operations staff at the direction of the president and board of directors. Its mission is to provide employers an employment network that is cost-effective, improves labor market efficiency and reaches an ethnically diverse national workforce.

About National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA)

The National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) is a private, non-profit organization, representing 52 state and territorial workforce agencies in general and the publicly-funded veterans' employment programs in particular.  The mission of NASWA is to serve as an advocate for state workforce programs and policies, a liaison to federal workforce system partners, and a forum for the exchange of information among states.

SOURCE DirectEmployers Association