Every year, corporate executives tell the world they can't find enough skilled American workers. Politicians repeat it on the record. The press repeats it as fact. Almost no one checks it. Meanwhile, the workers those executives claim don't exist are sitting at home — qualified, available, and never contacted.
Say that out loud and the answer comes back fast: we're not silent. Maybe not. But a single needle dropped in a forest makes a sound too — it just never reaches anyone. This directory is one way to make the sound reach further: not a comment nobody counts, but a public, searchable list that gets larger every time someone adds their name to it.
How it works
Search a zip code and see who's listed nearby — name, occupation, location, and a résumé if they've added one. It's built the same way Do Business Locally is built: a public directory, grounded in real submissions, reviewed before anything goes live.
About the résumé, and being public
Your listing is public once approved — that's what makes the directory worth anything to the people it's aimed at. You choose how much of yourself is in it: a headline like "12 years as a licensed electrician" says plenty without naming a single employer. A résumé, either uploaded or linked, adds weight to a listing but isn't required.
This is worth being honest about: being listed means being visible, and visibility is a real choice, not a risk-free one. That's also the whole point. A claim that skilled workers don't exist only survives because it's easier to make than it is to check. A directory people can actually search is what makes it checkable — and that only works if real people are willing to be found in it.
Help us build this out
The directory is only as good as it is complete. If you have the skills, list yourself — that's how the next search finds you.