Phoenix Group Rises to Task of Workforce Development

Charity—and Training—Begins at Home: Phoenix-based Jobing.com, an online job search and recruitment firm, is providing $1 million to establish the Jobing Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to help job seekers prepare themselves for employment. The newly formed foundation says in a statement that it is concentrating on providing workforce- and career-development programs that are “locally focused” across communities in eight U.S. states. Described as Jobing.com’s “primary corporate social responsibility channel,” the foundation aims to offer assistance such as skills training, coaching and education resources to nonprofit and community organizations, which in turn can provide the services to job seekers and connect them to companies seeking talent. Jobing.com says it will donate some of its products, which include software for talent management, job searches and recruiting, to help the parties find each other. Also planned is a speakers’ bureau that will offer career planning and “Job Shadow Day” to enable students to gain firsthand experiences of work environments.