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DWD Expands Career Resources with New Technology Partner to Benefit Employers and Job Seekers

New tool will use AI and machine learning to deliver personalized career pathways

MADISON – Thinking about a career change, but worried about your chances for success? Is your business looking to hire and unsure about the best combination of skills among candidates?

As part of its continuing, agency-wide modernization efforts, the Department of Workforce Development will soon offer even more individualized job search, career coaching and hiring solutions. Through a new partnership with national tech-for-social-impact nonprofit Research Improving People's Lives (RIPL), DWD is expanding the depth and breadth of its online career services to help users find in-demand careers and high-quality training.

The initial phase of the specialized online career service tool is slated to launch in spring of 2023. It will use past wage data to recommend job opportunities and career transitions to users based on their work history, skillset, and goals.

"This technology promises to help job seekers elevate their career potential while making the hiring process timelier and more effective for employers," said DWD Secretary-designee Amy Pechacek. "It will allow DWD to go above and beyond our current career services by offering individual solutions in a way that's accessible, equitable and very user-friendly. Like all of our mission-driven DWD Job Center services, it's free and available online or in person where our staff are waiting to help."

DWD's partnership with RIPL is designed to:

• Help job seekers make more informed career choices.
• Provide personalized, data-driven career recommendations based on job seekers' successful moves with similar skills and goals.
• Connect employers to qualified, ready-to-work candidates.
• Provide data and insights about Wisconsin's workforce programs to determine the effectiveness of training programs.

The project will build on and successfully integrate DWD's existing suite of job search and employer-matching tools, including Job Center of Wisconsin, Skill Explorer, and Career Pathways.

Hawaii, New Jersey, and Rhode Island have also used research from RIPL to improve state workforce services for job seekers and employers by using data and innovative technology to improve access and impact in training, employment, and hiring.

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ABOUT DWD

Wisconsin's Department of Workforce Development efficiently delivers effective and inclusive services to meet Wisconsin's diverse workforce needs now and for the future. The department advocates for and invests in the protection and economic advancement of all Wisconsin workers, employers and job seekers through six divisions – Employment and Training, Vocational Rehabilitation, Unemployment Insurance, Equal Rights, Worker's Compensation and Administrative Services. To keep up with DWD announcements and information, sign up for news releases and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

About RIPL

Research Improving People's Lives, or RIPL, is a tech-for-social-impact nonprofit that works with governments to help them use data, science, and technology to improve policy and lives. RIPL equips policy leaders to create policy that works, delivering measurable improvement per dollar spent for Americans in need.