‘Ground-breaking’ Job-search Tool Helps Jobseekers Bridge Those Barriers

There’s a new job-search tool for Kiwis looking for that perfect new role.

Workbridge, the country’s biggest organisation in the disability employment sector, has developed the “ground-breaking” My Workbridge tool to give greater choice and control to disabled people and others encountering various barriers into work.

The innovative technology is being launched on Friday, December 3, the International Day for Disabled People, and can be accessed through the My Workbridge login at https://workbridge.co.nz/,

It is set to level the playing field for many of the 1.1 million Kiwis who are disabled.

Recent StatsNZ figures show nearly two-thirds of that significant group are unemployed.

And research commissioned by Workbridge in 2016 has put the cost of that to this country at more than a $1 billion a year in taxes alone.

The My Workbridge tool could help redress that balance.

Developed over many months it gives Workbridge jobseekers access to plenty of roles not advertised elsewhere, plus a heap of information not available on other traditional job-search sites.

As well as tools to help build CVs and prepare for interviews, jobseekers registered with Workbridge will also get extra information about public transport options to their prospective job and how accessible the business is for disabled people.

Also, they will have new personalised options giving them greater choice and control over their information, meetings with their employment consultants and relationship with Workbridge.

Chief executive Jonathan Mosen says the “ground-breaking service…is a big day for disabled people and others who have specific requirements relating to where they work”.

“How easy is the workplace to get to with public transport? How noisy is it? Are there stairs that pose a barrier for those with certain impairments?

“No other job site conveys all that information.”

He says My Workbridge is great news for employers as well, “particularly in this hot labour market.

“They can tap into an often-overlooked pool of talent.”

Workbridge tapped into that pool itself to help develop its innovative job-search tool.

Eoin Sullivan had to learn how to use his legs again, after health problems led to spinal surgery and the end of his career as a chef.

Workbridge helped him get back into the workforce, and he has helped to improve the job-search tool and jobseekers’ guide.

“I was asked if I could read over the guidebook to get a client's thoughts on how it was written up, its ease of use,” he says.

“The portal is straight forward…any client with Workbridge shouldn’t have any problems navigating it.”

The tool would help “a lot of people with different types of disabilities”.

“Most of us just want to be active participants instead of being looked at as a hindrance.”

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