Press Release

A New Skills Matching Dashboard Can Help Local Companies Meet Their Hiring Needs

As technology employers around the country announced major layoffs, Orlando companies are still posting jobs for tech workers. In this emerging labor market scenario, the Orlando Economic Partnership has just the tool to help Orlando companies find talent using skill matching.

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Using technology that will help Connecting Employers with Hiring Resources your company skill match candidates

Recently companies such as Spotify, Google, Microsoft, Coinbase, Vox Media, and Amazon have all made big announcements about layoffs ranging anywhere from 600 (Spotify) to 18,000 (Amazon) employees. All jobs ranging from management and sales to software engineers have been affected. These announcements come as a mild U.S. recession in late 2023 remains a possibility and, although Florida and Orlando are projected to outperform the national economy due to sustained population growth and ongoing recovery in the tourism industry, it is always a good idea to be ready for any possible impact these changes can have in our region.

Profile analytics from LightCast shows that almost 3,800 people live in Orlando and work at the companies listed above. They have job titles ranging from Managers to Software Developers and they have skills such as marketing, operations management, SQL, and Python. In an era of remote work, layoffs by companies headquartered in major tech hubs such as New York and Seattle could be felt in Orlando as well.

However, major technology companies with a physical presence in Orlando continue to post job descriptions in search of new hires. In the last two months, there have been 4,500 unique job postings for positions in the broadly named, professional, scientific, and technical services industry, according to LightCast analytics. Top job posters include KPMG, Deloitte, Booz Allen Hamilton, and ADP. Top occupations posted include software developers, sales representatives, computer user support specialists, and other computer occupations. 

The data also shows that 62 percent of those postings advertise education requirements of at least a bachelor’s degree or higher. In late 2022, the Orlando Economic Partnership launched a new tool to help companies focus on opportunities for skill matching to find new hires, rather than potentially unnecessary education or previous experience requirements.

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The UpSkill Orlando: Tech Skills Explorer  is a skills-matching dashboard that uses detailed data on the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of information technology positions to break down jobs into their day-to-day tasks. Those jobs are then matched to other occupations that have a high percentage of overlap in required skills, regardless of the formal education requirements or job title for those roles. It is a tool meant to help employers think differently about how they are sourcing talent and to draft skills-based job descriptions for their job postings.

“We noticed that there are a lot of tools out there for jobs seekers, where someone looking for a new position can input their skills to see a pathway of skill-based job options, but not a ton of resources for employers looking to do the same thing in reverse,” Tim Giuliani, President and CEO of the Orlando Economic Partnership said.

“This new dashboard is meant to help employers identify the skills required of their current technology positions and then find other workers who may have a different job title but are a strong match from a skills perspective.”

Tim Giuliani, President and CEO of the Orlando Economic Partnership

As the labor market becomes more widespread and companies compete for talent far outside their physical footprint, tools that help employers find talent hidden in their own backyards help create a more efficient and resilient local economy. Skills matching is one avenue to making sure that local residents with the skills and abilities to perform a role are included in every hiring conversation.

“We are always looking for ways to make the search process more equitable for residents and efficient for local businesses to unlock the best talent pool that anywhere has to offer,” said Danielle Permenter, the Partnership’s Vice President of Talent & Community Development.

Development of the dashboard and UpSkill Orlando is sponsored by JPMorgan Chase. The UpSkill Orlando: Skills Explorer dashboard and other hiring resources can be found at https://orlando.org/l/regional-talent-initiatives/.


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About the Orlando Economic Partnership 
The Orlando Economic Partnership (the Partnership) is the Orlando region’s economic and community development organization that is seizing the moment to advance Broad-based Prosperity® by growing the diversity of the economy and driving investment into the region. The Partnership catalyzes the collaborative ethos of the region to fuel regional leadership and improve the region’s competitiveness. For more information on how opportunity in Orlando is Unbelievably Real, visit InvestOrlando.org 

About UpSkill Orlando 
UpSkill Orlando is a regional, skills-based talent strategy driving a pathway to broad-based prosperity™ made possible through the generous support of JP Morgan Chase & Co. and a partnership with Skillful, an initiative of the Markle Foundation. UpSkill Orlando seeks to create upward mobility opportunities by working with local employers and educators together to create skills-based career pathways. 

About JPMorgan Chase  
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $3.2 trillion and operations worldwide. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co. serves millions of customers in the United States and many of the world’s most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.