State Rolls Out Free, Online Job Search Service

It seems an unlikely problem -- with thousands of New Jerseyans struggling to find work, employers have thousands of well-paying jobs that remain unfilled.

“Today as we stand here PSEG has 111 positions and 140 people needed to fill them. We’re looking for attorneys, mechanics, human resources specialists, engineers,” said Ralph Izzo, the utility company’s chairman. “The challenge is matching those jobs to skills in the workforce.”

Izzo and representatives of dozens of other companies met Tuesday at PSEG’s headquarters in downtown Newark for the rollout of OnRamp, a free online service connecting job seekers with employment that matches their particular abilities and experience. OnRamp is a tool that appears on the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s job Web site, Jobs4Jersey.  

Both employers and job seekers can use the site.

The state Department of Labor began developing OnRamp after officials heard from employers having a tough time finding suitable employees.

“Last year I visited 100 businesses and all of them said ‘I can’t find qualified people,’” said Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. “And I said ‘how can that be? The unemployment rate is up again this month.’”

Officials Tuesday said that while 100,000 New Jerseyans are seeking work, there are more than a quarter-million openings in New Jersey and nearby areas in surrounding states.

The mismatch springs partly from an inability of employers to find the worker with exactly the right set of skills, something OnRamp addresses by focusing on skill sets and actual experience listed on resumes instead of job titles, which are often less precise.

While there are private companies offering employers online access to suitable workers, those services can be expensive, especially for small to midsize firms.

“One of the things that impresses us is that the site is absolutely free,” said Stefanie Riel of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, which has 21,000 members.

“We truly believe Jobs4Jersey is just what the HR manager ordered,” she added.