WORKING WORLDS--Upon arrival at Working Worlds, the site for Luxembourg’s first job fair, the first thing one sees are teleports for a number of employment services. We’re not talking about the Second Life Job Board either, but real life headhunting powerhouses; names such as Randstad and Manpower are on the signs, and yes, GAX Technologies. Virtual recruitment has arrived.

GAX Technologies’ Jetson-esque venue on Luxembourg Business island will be host to at least seven Luxemburger companies looking to invigorate the work force of Luxembourg using SL, according to GAXDirector Weston, Managing Director of GAX Technologies. Weston, the first of her company to enter SL, was immediately struck by the possibilities. "We are an IT company, we do software and websites, for us it was a logical step, if you offer website services you have to be able to offer virtual worlds placements too,” Weston says.

Though SL is not used extensively in Luxembourg yet, Weston hopes to change that, citing the job fair as an example. Luxembourg enjoys great affluence, with a per capita GDP ranking second in the world and the lowest unemployment rate in Europe. The downside of such prosperity is the difficulty in recruiting and maintaining a qualified workforce. “There are about 3,000 open positions at the moment, we simply do not have the workforce within Luxembourg to fill,” Weston explains.

According to the CIA World Fact Book approximately 60% of Luxembourg’s labor force comes from abroad. Weston is herself from the Netherlands and states that only one of the members of her firm is a Luxembourg native. "I believe that already about 80% of the workforce comes from abroad. No wonder the government of Luxembourg is taking an interest in GAX Technologies’ efforts in SL. Luxembourg Minister of the Economy and Foreign Trade Jeannot Krecke visited GAX Technologies in-world to plant the flag and the firm is in discussions with members of the government to determine 'how more collaboration can be done in the future,'” explains Weston.

This is all very good news for SL residents who may be interested in working internationally. Weston states that the companies represented at the fair are interested in recruiting for positions ranging from administrative to technical to financial. GAX Technologies is hosting the fair for seven companies, so far banks Dexia and Kaupthing along with financial consulting firm interFiduciaire and companies, in addition to recruiting firms Hays, Randstadt and Manpower. Weston is also looking to fill IT positions for her own firm.

While the Working Worlds job fair officially begins on November 28th, candidates can apply at any time. “In fact we already have about 1,000 registrations,” states Weston. There are two ways of becoming a job candidate for the Working World’s job fair. Weston recommends either registering at the fair’s website at: http://www.working-worlds.com/web/en/html/ or registrants can make contact on the 28th during the fair. “[Candidates] can walk around meet the recruiters, have an interview or just a first contact,” explains Weston.