PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (WLVT) - Some Generation Z’ers are stepping up to help people who lost their jobs to coronavirus.
As of May, 47.2 % of Americans are jobless, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That means nearly half of the U.S. population is without a job. To help with labor recovery efforts, a group of Generation Z'ers created a free job hunting platform called "I Lost My Job To Coronavirus."
"I’ve been developing the site for about three months. I just graduated from high school and I’ve taken web development and computer science courses," Gilad Spitzer, 18, told PBS39.
Spitzer graduated from high school last month in a socially-distanced mall parking lot ceremony. Since April, the L.A.-based aspiring computer coder has been working with friends in Pennsylvania and around the country to run the website.
"A user can sign up and input some of their resume information. We have partnerships with job boards like Indeed that we pull jobs from. We also have partnerships with recruiting agencies that sign up for our site and they can either post jobs on our site or put in talent searches," explained Spitzer.
He's been running the site with five other college-aged people, including University of Pennsylvania student Rachel Brenner, whose role is focused on marketing.
"We have approximately 1,500 registered users right now across the country," Brenner told PBS39. "We get messages from people thanking us, telling us that they were able to find a job through our site. It’s exciting."
Unlike other job platforms, when a candidate matches the skills that a recruiter is looking for, both the candidate and the recruiter are notified and can introduce themselves. Users can apply for jobs and connect with other people who are unemployed due to the pandemic.
"People can converse and build community and meet people who are going through similar things to them," said Spitzer. "This is a crazy time for everybody, and we’re trying to alleviate some confusion and pain for some people."
The group plans to add a resume writing feature to the site in the next few months.
Watch the full PBS39 story in the video player below.