New website helps jobseekers match to local jobs and training
Baton Rouge, La. (January 18, 2022) – The Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC) today announced the launch of brworks.org, a regional jobs portal for the Capital Region featuring technology to match job seekers with local jobs and regional training opportunities and resources for both job seekers and employers.
“With thousands of open jobs and workforce reported as a top concern of businesses, we’re excited to launch an innovative talent solution for the Baton Rouge Area,” said Adam Knapp, president and CEO of BRAC. “For the first time, the Baton Rouge Area has a website devoted to the region’s jobs, with a clever feature that lets you focus the search results based upon your own resume and skills. We wanted a jobs site that is simple to use, filled only with local jobs, and the intelligence to match one’s actual skills to the open jobs. BR Works does that, and more.”
BR Works is built on data provided by national labor market analytics firm Emsi. Visitors to the site can complete a simple skills assessment or upload a resume to be matched to open jobs in the region, ranked by compatibility. Alternatively, job seekers can browse all available regional jobs, sorting by job title or industry sector. The platform lists median salary for a given job, and when available, the posted salary.
While in a beta version, the system’s upskilling feature helps a job seeker flag skills gaps between existing competencies and those required for desired positions and recommends training providers. BRAC is encouraging regional training providers such as colleges, universities or private training providers to add their course descriptions to the upskilling platform.
BR Works automatically sources its jobs database from over 20 HR platforms, meaning employers do not need to repost their open jobs on the site for inclusion. The site also scrapes any regional job posted to the state’s job portal, LAWorks.
Because BR Works uses Emsi databases, the site’s analytics provides valuable insight into the regional job and workforce landscape, allowing BRAC and its partners to better align the region’s higher education curriculum to the skills local employers are seeking.
BRAC began BR Works in a simplified form in 2020 in response to the drastic changes to the jobs landscape amid the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. What began as a single webpage of company links to help laid-off workers find employers that were actively hiring has now become a full-scale job, training and resource hub for the Capital Region. The BR Works site is powered by Cox Communications.
Regional partners of the BR Works initiative include BRCC, City of Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish Library, EmployBR, FranU, ITI Technical College, LSU, RPCC, and Southern University.
About the Baton Rouge Area Chamber
The Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC) leads economic development in the nine-parish Baton Rouge Area, working to grow jobs and wealth and to improve the business climate and competitiveness in the region. Today, BRAC investors include more than 1,400 small businesses, mid-sized firms, large industry and entrepreneurial startups, as well as individuals and organizations that support business and economic development. In this capacity, BRAC serves as the voice of the business community, providing knowledge, access, services and advocacy. More information is available at www.brac.org.