WhoPlusYou was created to innovate and transform an inefficient employment system by offering both employers and job seekers a new and more dynamic way to find each other.
WhoPlusYou is a finalist for ITWC’s Digital Transformation Awards, being held June 14th in Toronto.
WhoPlusYou is founded by entrepreneur Doug Walker, previously of Sun Microsystems, IBM, and BitTorrent. Walker and his team at WhoPlusYou have built an adaptable and results-oriented culture that supports long-term transformation while maintaining the flexibility to respond appropriately to emergent opportunities and challenges in real time.
“What WhoPlusYou offers, is advanced intelligent technology, providing unparalleled real-time labour market information to propel economic development for communities and regions across Canada,” said Mark Patterson, Executive Director of Magnet. WhoPlusYou’s data driven platform is being adopted by the Ontario Centre for Workforce Innovation, the Province of Ontario, and the Council of Ontario Universities and Colleges Ontario.
For the many companies and organizations aiming to digitally transform their human resources practices, WhoPlusYou offers several advantages:
- Widespread adoption: WhoPlusYou customers join an unprecedentedly well-connected and growing network. It serves over 100,000 job seekers, more than 10,000 employers, 200 community and labour organizations, and 31 post-secondary institutions.
- Employer needs met: WhoPlusYou utilizes a ‘common language’ or taxonomy to describe individuals’ educational background, functional job skills and employers’ specific talent needs. Employers and service organizations build “targeted searches” to find the right people for the job, saving time and money. Employers can create relationships with qualified candidates ahead of their hiring needs, essentially building a talent pipeline.
- Job seeker needs met: Once the job seeker’s profile is registered, the system immediately provides the candidate with job postings their preferences, in real-time. It acts as a 24/7 recruiter. In addition, job seekers can receive targeted messages on networking opportunities and events, as well access an online learning center, which houses resources and guides to help job seekers find employment.
In addition to digital transformation, one of WhoPlusYou’s core values is diversity, and it has developed features to support targeted diversity recruitment. This has given it access to segments of the employment market that other services cannot access, and has enabled it to respond to emerging needs — for example, the resettlement and employment of recently arrived Syrian refugees.
“As the platform for Magnet, WhoPlusYou has driven and continues to drive transformation in employment. Employers are able to find the right people faster and more efficiently, as well as recruitment to meet diversity targets for underemployed populations, especially people with disabilities, newcomers to Canada, Indigenous peoples, women etc. It allows for under-employed and unemployed people to find meaningful opportunities, creating bridges between different socio-economic, cultural and demographic groups It is an innovative system that can affect real change”, Mark Patterson concludes.