Va. launches platform to connect people to jobs, education

With more than 400,000 Virginians unemployed, the state has launched a platform designed to connect people to educational and work opportunities broken down by region, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday.

The Virginia Career Works Referral Portal connects people to training, certification, education and employment services to aid in job search and career development. Users can also access programs such as interview and resume workshops. 

“Workers and families across Virginia are experiencing tremendous financial pain, as well as coping, in many cases, with the devastation of getting sick or losing a loved one to COVID-19,” Northam said in a statement. “This ongoing health crisis requires our government systems to respond faster and with more flexibility than ever before. This strategic investment in our workforce technology infrastructure puts the commonwealth in a stronger position to help Virginians get back on their feet and overcome these unprecedented challenges.”

The state had already been developing a new workforce development system before the pandemic began, but officials hastened the process after seeing record-setting unemployment numbers throughout the spring. 

“By making the full spectrum of services accessible through one virtual door, we are bringing every resource to the table to help Virginians recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Megan Healy, the state’s chief workforce development adviser.

The portal is a cloud-based system that uses open-source software supported by the Massachusetts-based Apache Software Foundation, a nonprofit community of developers that created the Apache HTTP Server in 1995, the world’s most used server.

“This scalable, standards-driven system is an important addition to Virginia’s growing information technology ecosystem,” Chief Data Officer Carlos Rivero said in a statement. “In addition to its immediate benefits, this collaboratively built solution provides a future-proofed foundation for continuing development.”

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