Fortune 500 firms hoping free site will boost employment -- chicagotribune.com

With the unemployment rate at 9.5 percent and companies seeking to reduce recruiting costs, technology company QuietAgent is hoping to provide an antidote for the ailing economy: a free job database sponsored by Fortune 500 companies, including Chicago-area heavyweights Sears, Allstate, Hyatt and Hewitt.

"We believe that if we can break those [cost barriers] down, it may stimulate an employer to hire now instead of waiting six months," said Jason Kerr, founder of QuietAgent, which is powering the site called United We Work. The site, at UnitedWeWork.org, won't compete directly with online job board giants CareerBuilder and Monster. And job seekers don't search and apply for specific positions; rather they complete a standard résumé...