Workforce Wizard is more than just a job posting board

Facing a wave of retirements, they predict 1,000 job openings in the next year, according to Brett Vassey, business services manager for the Virginia Department of Business Assistance.

And the region acutely needs health-care industry workers.

So Vassey and other business leaders welcomed a project on June 19, 2002 that was started by Workforce One, a function of the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Richmond Partnership.

Officials expect the “Workforce Wizard” to serve as an Internet hub for regional job-seekers, employers, educators and job-training programs.

Features of the Web site, www.workforcewizard.com, are comparable to job sites such as Monster.com and RichmondCareers.com. But developers announcing the new project at the Richmond Omni on June 19th said they believe their wizard has a few extra tricks.

All the sites allow companies and job-seekers to post and search resumes, search for openings and exchange anonymous job and employee information.

Workforce Wizard claims about a dozen other features. Among them:

  • Employers can search resumes for applicants with strengths in specific skills.
  • Employers can post job fairs and intern program information.
  • Applicants and firms can see information about testing and job-training services.

Chamber President Jim Dunn traced the new site’s origin back several years to talks between the chamber and the Greater Richmond Partnership, a regional economic development group.

Both agreed they should strive to develop a highly skilled employee base as a way to make Richmond more attractive to companies. Dunn said local businesses also told the two groups that they want a single place to satisfy employment needs.

Community colleges and companies including Kraft Foods Inc., Philip Morris USA, Infineon Technologies Richmond and Verizon Communications Inc. helped create the site.

The wizard cost about $200,000 to develop. Workforce One expects subscription fees from companies that use the site to pay for operations and additional development.