LOS ANGELES, CA — Mayor Eric Garcetti unveiled a new JobsLA mobile app that allows job seekers to use smartphones to search nearly 50,000 employment listings in the City of Los Angeles, and up to 150,000 countywide.
The Mayor made his announcement during remarks at the Northeast Valley Worksource Center, which drew job-seekers and employers in the “sharing” or on-demand economy. Community members spoke to representatives from companies including Uber, Lyft, Instacart, and AirBnB.
“Finding a great job in the 21st century means searching whenever you want, wherever you are,” said Mayor Garcetti. “The new JobsLA app puts that power in your hands. The app filters job listings from 20,000 websites, gets updated daily, and is completely ad-free.”
JobsLA app users can quickly and easily browse help-wanted listings in their area–from opportunities at FedEx and UPS to jobs at law and accounting firms–or find the nearest WorkSource Center, a city-run employment hub where job seekers can meet one-on-one with trained staff to search for jobs, write resumes, sharpen interviewing skills, and consider new career possibilities.
JobsLA is available for both iOS and Android devices, and can be downloaded for free from the iTunes App Store and Google Play. When users register for JobsLA, they gain access to a wider range of features, including a resume builder and online job applications.
The app is part of Mayor Garcetti’s effort to modernize government with smart technology and improve customer service across City of Los Angeles departments. It dovetails with the mayor’s Back to Basics agenda, a commitment to build a thriving and accessible Los Angeles economy from the ground up.
Employers also can use the app to browse a large pool of qualified job candidates, and to gain access to real-time market information on prevailing wage and skill-set supply and demand.
“This app will broaden our reach,” said Jan Perry, General Manager of the Economic & Workforce Development Department, which developed and operates the mobile app in partnership with Mayor Garcetti and the Workforce Development Board. “It will put the services we provide for individuals to seek jobs, and for employers to find people in the palm of their hands.”
The Youth Policy Institute hosted the event at the Worksource Center, in concert with the Workforce Development Board, America’s Job Center of California, the City’s Economic and Workforce Development Department, and Mayor Garcetti’s office.
Dixon Slingerland, executive director of YPI, said: “This is truly ‘not your typical job fair.’ For the Northeast Valley, it’s a rare opportunity to show off our tremendous resources and talent to cutting-edge firms. We’re excited to work with the companies that showed up today, and excited to connect our communities to the employers of the future.”
YPI also announced the opening of the Financial Opportunity Center co-located in the Northeast Valley Worksource Center, one of the first in Los Angeles funded by the Local Initiatives Service Corporation (LISC). Financial Opportunity Centers are career and personal finance service centers that help low- to moderate-income people build smart money habits and focus on the financial bottom line. This center joins a nationwide network of 80 such FOCs.
Today’s event marks the second job fair of 2016. On February 11, Mayor Garcetti attended the largest youth job fair in city history. More than 6,000 young people attended; more than 1,000 received a job offer that day, and hundreds more were called back for second interviews. On that occasion, the Mayor set a goal for 2016 of 15,000 new year-round jobs for young Angelenos — more than triple the number of youth jobs coordinated by City Hall when he entered office.
About the Youth Policy Institute
Youth Policy Institute has been providing wraparound services to low-income families in Los Angeles since 1996 and is the only agency in the country to have been awarded all four of the Obama Administration’s Neighborhood Revitalization Initiatives: Promise Zones, Promise Neighborhoods, Choice Neighborhoods out of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program out of the Department of Justice. Together, these initiatives form a place-based approach to fighting poverty, reducing crime, improving educational opportunities and creating access to jobs that builds on YPI’s decades of history helping youth and families. For more information, visit www.ypiusa.org.