WASHINGTON, D.C. — Social media giant Facebook is now a “friend” of the U.S. Department of Labor, and the two parties believe millions of America’s Facebook users will “like” the new Social Jobs Partnership page they set up to help people find work.
“This is wonderful,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, speaking Thursday in one of the conference rooms at the U.S. Department of Labor headquarters to announce the new partnership.
“It’s all about getting people to work and making connections,” Solis said, holding her thumb up like the thumbs-up emoticon on Facebook toward the end of her remarks. “Landing on this page can help Americans land good jobs.”
Solis was joined by Marne Levine, Facebook’s vice president of global public policy and former chief of staff at the White House National Economic Council.
“We’re not going to limit ourselves to what’s possible today,” Levine said. “We’re going to invest in research, more social technologies and find new ways to find jobs online.”
“Our labor market is changing, and so should the tools being used to find jobs,” Levine said.
Labor economists, however, were reluctant to give the new Social Jobs Partnership a thumbs up, and said enthusiasts of the Facebook partnership must face a harsh reality about the limitations of online social networks’ ability to make a dent in the unemployment rates.
