Delaware targets job turnover

Delaware is developing online resources to help businesses reach their potential.

The state's Economic Development Office has teamed with Wilmington-based Osier Design to create a workforce resource Web site and notebook (www.delawareworkforce.com). State officials hope these resources will help the more than 25,000 Delaware businesses recruit and retain employees and find grant information.

The site contains hundreds of resources for Delaware companies, including recruitment strategies, assistance in obtaining training grants, public transportation and child care information, current requests for proposals for training services, facts and figures from annual state reports, information on average wage rates, job listing hot lines and employment market trends.

"What we're doing here is what employers and potential employees would want to do themselves if they had the time and resources," said Helen Groft, workforce development director at the Delaware Economic Development Office.

The office has been providing information to Delaware businesses since 1996, Groft said, but this is the first time that such information will be available online.

"This is unique because it's done as if from the eye of the human resources professional," Groft said. "Everything is geared for them in such a way as to remove the extraneous elements and focus solely on the pertinent information."

Officials hope the site helps cut the employee turnover rate. The U.S. Labor Department estimates that employee turnover can cost a company from $20,000 to $30,000 per worker.

The site also serves as resource for education. It offers information on training, a comprehensive list of educational opportunities in Delaware — from high school to college levels — research and development initiatives, and information on how business can get involved with education.

The new workforce features come on the heels of a recently revamped overall state Web site.