The World Employment Confederation (WEC) Blockchain taskforce is a working group gathering WEC Member companies such as The Adecco Group, GiGroup, Kelly, ManpowerGroup, Randstad, and RGF Staffing to study the way in which the private employment services industry could harness the potential of blockchain technology to facilitate workforce matching. The taskforce is developing “guidelines, best practice examples and use cases for a data block that can eventually be used by agencies, candidates, workers and others across the industry”, and will ultimately make it easier for the 58 million people around the world that each year successfully enter and re-enter the workforce through private employment services. 

Blockchain solutions have a great potential as they are able to mitigate any inefficiency or fraud within the process of connecting people with work. They may also save time for both companies having to check credentials and references and job seekers having to submit their applications and certificates. Moreover, they can be very helpful when it comes to data privacy and the stringent data privacy regulation adopted for instance in the countries of the European Union.

In October 2020, WEC joined the Velocity Network Foundation, a consortium that brings together members from HR, gig platforms recruitment and other services, as well as employers and educational institutions and seeks to use blockchain technology to build an ‘Internet of Careers™’.

“By joining the network of partners brought together by Velocity, the World Employment Confederation will be directly involved in shaping the infrastructure for modern labour markets”, says the WEC press release.

“The network of partners that Velocity brings together will enable the speed, trust and data security that is necessary in modern labour markets to maximise efficiency for the workforce, businesses and communities we serve. For the World Employment Confederation and its members, being part of this network will accelerate the opportunities for labour market intermediaries to improve the job search process for customers and workers alike”, explains John Healy, Vice-President of the World Employment Confederation and chairman of its Blockchain Taskforce.

In concrete terms, through this technology the worker could have a ‘digital wallet’ enabling him/her to share personal credentials and data with private agencies or employers and thus enormously facilitating the job search.