From Donations to Direct Hiring: How Joblio Can Transform College Career Placement

For decades, most college career centers in the U.S. have relied on the same recruitment playbook: career fairs, bulletin boards, and generic job boards that treat students much like they did in the 1970s. Meanwhile, employers face persistent talent shortages, especially for early‑career roles, and students struggle to turn their education into meaningful work quickly and efficiently. Into this gap steps Joblio.co, led by founder Jon Purizhansky, with a model that turns existing college–employer relationships into a modern, AI‑driven talent pipeline.

A New Role for Donor Companies and Alumni

Every private college already has two powerful but underused assets: corporate donors and alumni in decision‑making roles. These companies and leaders are used to supporting their schools financially, sponsoring events, or funding scholarships. With Joblio, they can support in a more direct and measurable way: by hiring students and recent graduates at scale.

Instead of just writing checks, donor companies and alumni‑led employers can become active hiring partners on Joblio, posting roles targeted at students from the institutions they care about most. The value to the college is twofold: stronger placement outcomes and a more engaged employer network. At the same time, employers tap into a curated stream of emerging talent that already has a connection to their organization or industry.

Ultra‑Low‑Friction Employer Onboarding

Traditional HR tech platforms often create financial and operational friction for employers. Many leading job platforms use costly subscriptions, pay‑per‑click, or pay‑per‑application models that can quickly run into hundreds or thousands of dollars per month. Some campus‑focused systems charge institutions significant annual fees, while employers pay for premium packages and branding just to reach students at scale.

Joblio’s employer model flips that script. Employers can post three jobs for free and then pay just about $10 per job per month, making each listing effectively a non‑event from a budget perspective. When you compare that to:

- ZipRecruiter plans that can run from roughly $15–24 per job per day or into high monthly subscriptions.

- Indeed sponsored posts that often start around $5 per day or $150 per month for visibility

- Campus‑focused systems where enterprise packages and branding tools can cost tens or even hundreds of thousands annually

…the Joblio price point is designed to be almost negligible, especially for companies already donating far more to the institution. This matters to career centers that want to bring more employers into the ecosystem quickly and keep them engaged over time.

How Joblio AI Changes Placement Dynamics

Joblio is best known for its ethical cross‑border recruitment model, connecting employers to international talent while protecting workers from abuse and hidden fees. The same underlying technology can power a domestic college‑to‑employer ecosystem that is smarter and more efficient than traditional job boards.

Here is how the workflow looks for a college partnership:

1. The career placement office invites donor companies and alumni employers to become hiring partners on Joblio.co.

2. Those employers create accounts and post up to three roles at no cost, with any additional roles priced at around $10 per month per active listing.

3. Students are directed by the career center to download the Joblio app from the Google Play Store (Android) or the Apple App Store (iOS) and create their profiles.

4. Joblio’s AI then matches students to open roles based on skills, education, preferences, and employer needs, greatly reducing the manual screening and guesswork that typical career centers rely on.

Because Joblio’s services are free to jobseekers, students incur no cost barrier; they simply use the app as their main gateway to employer connections. For career offices, this means less time spent chasing employers and more time supporting students in preparing résumés, portfolios, and interviews

Efficiency Gains Across the Ecosystem

The Joblio model delivers multiple layers of efficiency for every stakeholder:

- For colleges and career centers:

- Measurable KPIs such as higher placement rates, shorter time‑to‑hire, and better alignment between majors and job outcomes.

- A scalable pipeline built from existing donor and alumni networks, instead of constantly recruiting new employers from scratch.

- For employers (especially donor companies and alumni‑led organizations):

- Access to a curated pool of motivated student talent at a marginal cost that is dramatically lower than most mainstream job platforms.

- Faster matching and reduced administrative burden due to AI‑driven candidate recommendations rather than manual resume sorting.

- For students:

- A unified app experience where they can be intelligently matched with multiple relevant roles instead of endlessly searching and applying.

- A direct line to employers who already care about their institution and are motivated to hire from it.

This is not just a modest optimization of career services; it is a structural shift. Instead of career placement offices acting mainly as event planners and traffic directors to external platforms, they become orchestrators of an integrated, AI‑enabled ecosystem where every donor meeting and alumni connection can evolve into a live hiring channel powered by Joblio.

A Domestic Use Case With Global DNA

Jon Purizhansky built Joblio around the principle that recruitment should be ethical, efficient, and accessible for both employers and talent. While the platform’s global reputation is rooted in cross‑border hiring and migrant worker protections, this domestic U.S. college use case applies the same logic to students standing at the threshold of their careers.

By transforming existing corporate and alumni support into direct, low‑cost hiring, and by using AI to connect students and employers through an easy‑to‑use app, Joblio.co offers a path to modernize college employment outcomes without asking schools or companies to take on heavy new costs. With links available in the Play Store for Android users and the App Store for iPhone users, adoption can be fast and simple, positioning Joblio as a natural next‑generation layer on top of the traditional career office model.

Originally Posted: https://jonpurizhansky.medium.com/from-donations-to-direct-hiring-how-joblio-can-transform-college-career-placement-d6f21a629002?postPublishedType=initial

Protecting Ghana Talent: Ethical Recruitment, Fraud Risks, and the Joblio Model

Ghana’s young workforce is increasingly targeted by fake recruiters and online scams, even as governments and employers search for reliable pathways to move talent safely across borders. This article outlines the problem, highlights documented fraud patterns, and explains how Jon Purizhansky’s Joblio model of ethical recruitment can help governments, investors, employers, and job seekers reduce risk and improve outcomes.

The scale of unethical recruitment in Ghana

Ghana has a growing, educated youth population and a high demand for secure employment at home and abroad, which makes job seekers vulnerable to fraudulent offers that promise fast-track recruitment or overseas jobs. Public authorities report that online fraud, including job and recruitment scams, caused losses of over GH¢ 4.4 million in just the first quarter of 2025.

• The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has repeatedly warned that sophisticated fake recruitment schemes now impersonate official agencies using copied logos, uniforms, and videos to appear legitimate

• Fraudsters typically demand “processing,” “protocol,” or “placement” fees in exchange for non-existent jobs or slots in security services, ministries, or foreign companies

• International reports on Ghana highlight that deceptive recruitment is one of the routes into human trafficking and labour exploitation, especially for those seeking work abroad.

For governments and investors, this environment undermines trust in labour mobility systems and creates reputational, legal, and social risks around any cross-border recruitment involving Ghanaian workers.

Real-world patterns: how Ghanaian job seekers are cheated

Recent warnings and investigations show consistent patterns in how Ghanaians are misled and exploited in the name of recruitment

• Fake public-sector recruitment: GIS and other agencies have had to publicly deny ongoing recruitment multiple times, after scammers launched fraudulent portals and WhatsApp campaigns inviting people to apply and pay fees for immigration or security-service jobs

• Digital impersonation scams: Criminals set up websites like “protocol recruitment portals,” as well as fake social media profiles and SMS campaigns, all mimicking the visual identity of Ghanaian authorities to harvest personal data and money.

• Overseas job and trafficking scams: Media and international reports document Ghanaians being lured abroad with false promises of work, including cases where dozens were trafficked to other countries under the guise of sports or employment opportunities.

These cases illustrate structural weaknesses: information asymmetry, lack of verified channels, and the normalisation of paying large sums to intermediaries just to be considered for a job

Why ethical recruitment matters for all stakeholders

Unethical recruitment is not only a human-rights problem; it is also a systemic risk for employers, investors, and governments.

• For governments, fraudulent recruitment undermines public trust, fuels irregular migration, and complicates enforcement of labour and trafficking laws.

• For employers, opaque third-party brokers can lead to liability for hidden fees, contract substitution, and poor retention when workers realise they have been misled.

• For job seekers, high upfront fees often mean debt bondage, which increases vulnerability to coercion and abuse once they reach their destination.

Jon Purizhansky, founder of Joblio.co, argues that ethical recruitment is both a moral and commercial imperative: “Our mission at Joblio is to revolutionize the recruitment industry by prioritizing fairness, transparency, and respect for workers’ rights.” For public and private partners, that kind of structured ethical approach is an asset rather than a cost.

The Joblio model: eliminating unethical middlemen

Joblio.co, led by refugee-turned-entrepreneur Jon Purizhansky, positions itself as a global ethical recruitment platform that removes opaque brokers and connects employers directly with workers through a transparent, tech-enabled system.

• No-placement-fee principle: Joblio operates on a model in which workers are not charged recruitment or placement fees, aiming to remove the financial pressure that drives exploitation and debt.

• Direct employer–worker link: The platform connects vetted employers directly with applicants, using detailed job postings that spell out responsibilities, conditions, and pay to reduce misinformation and contract substitution.

• Compliance and worker support: Joblio emphasizes legal compliance, visa and documentation support, and post-arrival assistance (such as its ACE support program and community management services) to help workers integrate and reduce attrition.

Purizhansky stresses that transparency and dignity are central: “We operate on a no-placement-fee model to remove financial barriers for job seekers and prevent exploitation. Our goal is to create a level playing field where everyone has an equal opportunity to access meaningful employment.” By design, this kind of model directly addresses the information and power imbalances exploited by fraudulent recruiters.[finance.yahoo +1]

How this approach can help protect Ghanaians

While current public reporting focuses on Ghanaian authorities’ efforts to expose scams rather than on specific partnerships with any single platform, the underlying problems in Ghana’s recruitment environment align closely with the issues Joblio’s model is built to solve.[myjoyonline +2]

For governments and regulators:

• Partnering with ethical recruitment platforms can complement enforcement by creating clearly identified, compliant channels that reduce the appeal of informal brokers.[hrtechedge +3]

• Standardised, transparent digital processes can help authorities monitor flows, verify employer legitimacy, and ensure that no unlawful fees are charged to workers.[jonpurizhanskybuffalo +1]

For investors and employers:

• Using a vetted ethical platform reduces reputational and legal risk tied to hidden recruitment practices in supply chains and labour migration routes.[hrtechedge +2]

• Structured worker support and community management, as described by Purizhansky, can improve productivity and retention: “Migrant workers are looking for any opportunity to learn a new skill… We just have to be willing to meet them in the middle.”[chrisabraham]

For Ghanaian job seekers:

• Access to verified job listings and direct contact with employers can help them avoid fake portals, WhatsApp scams, and “protocol” agents demanding illegal fees.[citinewsroom +4]

• Clear information about contracts, rights, and support in the destination country reduces the likelihood of falling into trafficking or forced labour situations.[bbc +3]

As Purizhansky frames it, ethical recruitment is not just about avoiding harm but about building a new standard: “By advocating for fair treatment and partnering with employers who share our values, Joblio is setting a new standard for ethical recruitment.” For Ghana and its partners, aligning policy and investment with this kind of architecture is a practical path to protect citizens, secure talent pipelines, and build sustainable, rights-respecting labour mobility systems.

Originally Posted: https://medium.com/@jonpurizhansky/protecting-ghanas-talent-ethical-recruitment-fraud-risks-and-the-joblio-model-a029333af0a7

Israel’s Labor Crisis: Why Ethical Tech Solutions Are Now a National Security Imperative

 An Op-Ed on Israel’s Labor Shortage and the Technology We Need to Avoid Economic, Security, and Human Rights Disaster

Israel’s postwar recovery and long-term security will be decided not on the battle field alone, but in the labor market. Today, Israel is confronting a labor shortage so severe that it threatens economic stability, national security, and the country’s moral standing — and without a radical shift toward ethical, technology-powered recruitment platforms like Joblio, the nation faces a slow-motion crisis that could undermine everything it has fought to protect.

A Labor Shortage in a Country at War

Since the exclusion of most Palestinian workers after October 2023, Israel has scrambled to fill massive gaps in construction, agriculture, caregiving, hospitality, and essential services by importing foreign labor at unprecedented scale. In 2025 alone, Israel issued approximately 61,000 new work permits to foreign workers, bringing the total migrant workforce to more than 227,000 — roughly 3.3 percent of the population. The government has signaled it will continue expanding these quotas as demand outpaces supply.

This is not a temporary adjustment; it is a structural dependency. With ongoing security tensions, an aging population, and chronic shortages in key sectors, Israel cannot maintain its economy without large-scale foreign labor. Construction sites stand idle waiting for workers, agricultural harvests face delays, and elderly Israelis struggle to find caregivers — all while unemployment among certain domestic populations remains a paradox that points to deep structural mismatches.

The urgency is undeniable. But the question is not whether Israel needs foreign workers — it does. The question is whether it will manage this influx through unregulated brokers who pro t from opacity, or through transparent, technology-driven platforms that protect workers, secure borders, and strengthen the economy.

Infation, Wage Pressure, and Economic Fragility

Israel’s inflation rate has hovered around or above the upper bound of the Bank of Israel’s 1–3 percent target throughout 2025, driven by higher housing, utilities, transport costs, and supply-chain disruptions linked to the ongoing conflict. Labor shortages exacerbate these pressures in several ways. When firms cannot find workers, they bid up wages faster than productivity can support, passing those costs directly to consumers.

In construction, chronic labor shortages have delayed projects and driven up building costs, which feed into higher rents and home prices — core components of the consumer price index. In caregiving and services, understaffing means higher wages for those who remain, increasing household care costs and straining public budgets. In agriculture and food processing, labor gaps create bottlenecks that raise food prices and reduce competitiveness.

When recruitment itself is expensive — because workers must pay brokers thousands of dollars in illegal fees — employers either absorb those indirect costs or pass them on, creating a hidden inflation tax that distorts the entire labor market. The result is an economy operating below potential, with idle capital, underutilized infrastructure, and rising costs that erode real incomes and investor confidence precisely when Israel needs both.

Macroeconomic stability depends on getting the labor supply equation right. If Israel continues to import workers through opaque, broker-dominated channels that in ate costs and hide risks, it will fuel inflation, reduce productivity, and weaken the fiscal position needed to support defense, social services, and recovery.

National Security: The Hidden Risk in the Broker Model

In Israel, labor policy is security policy. For decades, the state has managed cross-border labor flows — particularly Palestinian workers — through security screening and controlled access points, precisely because infiltrations, smuggling, and terrorist attacks can exploit weak vetting and opaque employment channels. Today, as tens of thousands of workers arrive from Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Latin America, the continued reliance on unregulated middlemen creates a dangerous security blind spot.

Here is the uncomfortable truth: when recruitment is handled through scattered brokers and cash-based networks operating in the shadows, the Israeli state cannot reliably verify identities, trace financial flows, or understand who really controls a worker’s movement, documents, or loyalties. That is precisely how hostile intelligence services and terror networks position operatives in target countries worldwide. They arrive as “ordinary” migrant workers, their documents arranged by brokers who care only about fees, not about the ultimate consequences.

A well-funded adversary — whether a state intelligence service or a non-state terror organization — can deploy spies or sleeper-cell operatives into Israel simply by paying the right broker to falsify credentials, bypass vetting, and deliver a person who appears legitimate on paper but whose true purpose is surveillance, sabotage, or violence. In a small, exposed country facing existential threats on multiple borders, this is not a theoretical risk; it is an intolerable vulnerability that grows with every unvetted worker who enters through broker-controlled channels.

The problem is structural. Brokers operate in origin countries with minimal oversight, recruiting workers through informal networks, charging illegal fees, and preparing visa applications that Israeli authorities review only at the final stage — after relationships, debts, and dependencies have already been established. By the time a worker arrives, the state has no visibility into how they were recruited, who vetted them, who pro ted from their placement, or what pressures they may be under. If that worker is in fact an operative, the damage is done long before any red flags appear.

Without a transparent, technology-driven system that directly connects vetted employers with verified workers under government oversight, Israel is effectively outsourcing border security to unaccountable middlemen. That is a gamble no responsible government should take, especially one facing adversaries who have repeatedly demonstrated willingness to exploit every vulnerability.

Human Rights: The Moral and Strategic Cost of Broker Exploitation

Israel is formally classified as a Tier 1 country in global anti-trafficking rankings, but the reality of migrant worker recruitment tells a darker story. Investigations by international organizations, NGOs, and Israeli watchdog groups consistently document severe abuses embedded in the broker-driven system.

Common patterns include: • • • • • •

Workers paying recruitment fees ranging from $4,000 to as high as $20,000 to secure jobs in Israel, often nanced with high-interest loans that leave them trapped in debt bondage upon arrival.

Passport con scation by employers or brokers, restricting freedom of movement and preventing workers from leaving abusive situations.

Inability to change employers without losing legal status, creating a form of modern servitude where workers must endure exploitation or face deportation.

Non-payment or systematic under-payment of wages, wage theft, and deductions for “services” that should be employer-provided.

Substandard housing, overcrowding, and unsafe working conditions that would never be tolerated for Israeli citizens.

Threats, intimidation, and retaliation against workers who attempt to report abuses or organize for better conditions.

These are not isolated incidents; they are predictable outcomes of a system where unregulated brokers control access, information, and leverage over vulnerable people. Workers arrive already in debt, already dependent, and already afraid — a recipe for exploitation that no amount of well-intentioned legislation can x without addressing the broker intermediary itself.

The strategic cost of these abuses extends beyond morality. A system that tolerates debt bondage and intimidation incentivizes workers to disappear into irregular employment, creates populations vulnerable to recruitment by criminals or extremists, and damages Israel’s reputation among the democracies it depends on for diplomatic, economic, and security cooperation. If Israel insists that it is a law-governed society that values human dignity and rule of law, then its treatment of the caregivers who look after its elderly, the laborers who build its homes, and the agricultural workers who harvest its food must visibly match that claim.

Failure to reform this system is both a moral failure and a security liability. Exploited workers become invisible workers. Invisible workers become untrackable populations. Untrackable populations become vulnerabilities that adversaries can exploit.

Why Organic, Tech-Enabled Recruitment Is Now a Security and Economic Necessity

The core problem is the middleman model itself. When foreign recruitment operates through opaque chains of brokers, sub-agents, and informal networks, three catastrophic failures occur simultaneously:

1. The state loses security visibility. Government authorities cannot see who is recruiting workers, how they are being vetted, who is pro ting, or what relationships and pressures exist before arrival.

2. Employers lose control and accountability. Businesses meet workers only after brokers have already extracted fees, created dependencies, and set expectations — leaving employers with mismatched skills, resentful workers, and legal exposure.

3. Workers lose rights and agency. Trapped between debts at home and threats in Israel, with no transparent record of promises made or contracts signed, workers have no leverage, no recourse, and no protection.

A digital, ethical recruitment infrastructure can fundamentally reverse this dynamic. Technology-driven platforms like Joblio that directly connect vetted Israeli employers with veri ed foreign workers — operating under standardized, multilingual contracts stored in secure, auditable systems — allow government, employers, and civil society to access the same veri ed data: identity veri cation, security screening results, wage agreements, housing arrangements, and complaint history.

What a Platform Like Joblio Enables

Joblio’s model is built on the principle of organic talent acquisition: eliminating unaccountable intermediaries and creating direct, transparent relationships between employers who need workers and workers who need jobs. This approach delivers three critical outcomes that Israel urgently needs:

Table 1: Core capabilities of ethical tech recruitment platforms like Joblio

In practical terms, Joblio creates a single digital spine linking Israeli government ministries, veri ed employers, and foreign workers across borders, with every step — from initial job posting to visa application to arrival to contract renewal — logged, auditable, and transparent. It is the opposite of the envelope-of-cash, cousin-of-a-cousin broker system that currently dominates and that leaves Israel exposed to exploitation scandals, security penetrations, and economic inefficiency.

Organic Employer-Worker Connection or Slow-Motion Crisis

At the heart of any sustainable solution is what must be called organic talent acquisition: workers and employers connecting directly through a regulated, transparent platform, with no unaccountable intermediaries extracting rents, creating dependencies, or hiding information. In this model, the employment relationship exists between the person who signs the paycheck and the person who performs the work — not between a frightened migrant and a broker who holds their fate in their hands.

Contracts are clear, written in languages workers understand, and stored where they cannot be altered retroactively. Fees are transparent and borne by employers, not workers. Every change of employer, job status, or residence passes through the same digital channel, preserving both worker rights and government oversight. Complaints are recorded, tracked, and resolved through formal processes, not suppressed through intimidation.

This is not utopian; it is simply the application of modern technology to a broken, pre digital system that has been allowed to persist because it serves the interests of brokers, not workers, employers, or the state.

Without this kind of tech-enabled ecosystem, Israel faces a binary outcome, both sides of which are unacceptable:

Option 1: Fail to bring in the workers the economy desperately needs, strangling construction, agriculture, caregiving, and essential services during a period of national emergency, deepening in ation, and undermining recovery.

Option 2: Continue importing workers through the current broker-driven system, importing alongside them rising volumes of debt bondage, human tra cking, security vulnerabilities, and social backlash that will ultimately poison public support for foreign labor entirely.

In a small, exposed country that depends on both external legitimacy and internal resilience, neither path is sustainable. Building an ethical, digital recruitment architecture is no longer a matter of administrative e ciency or corporate social responsibility — it is a condition for Israel’s economic stability, national security, and moral survival.

Conclusion: Choose Technology or Choose Crisis Israel stands at a crossroads. The labor shortages are real, the security environment is unforgiving, and the current broker-dominated recruitment system is incapable of delivering what the country needs: a large, reliable, vetted, and fairly treated foreign workforce that strengthens the economy without compromising safety or values.

The choice is stark:

• Embrace transparent, technology-driven platforms like Joblio that connect employers and workers directly, enforce zero-fee rules, integrate security vetting, and provide real-time oversight — or

· Continue down the path of unregulated brokers, opaque networks, mounting exploitation, in ltration risks, and a slow-motion crisis that will corrode Israel’s economy, security, and international standing.

There is no middle ground. Incremental reforms will not drive out entrenched middlemen. Goodwill statements will not prevent hostile actors from exploiting recruitment channels. Only a structural shift to digital, organic talent acquisition — where every worker, every employer, and every contract is visible, veri ed, and accountable — can deliver the labor Israel needs in a way that upholds both security and human dignity.

The stakes could not be higher. Israel’s future depends not only on the strength of its military or the resilience of its people, but on whether it has the wisdom to build the systems that connect those people to the workers they need — transparently, ethically, and securely.

The technology exists. The model works. The only question is whether Israel will act before the crisis becomes irreversible.

References

Metaintro. (2026, January 5). Israel Grants 61,000 Work Permits as Foreign Workers Fill Labor Gap. https://www.metaintro.com/blog/israel-foreign-workers-2025-labor-shortage

Jewish World News. (2026, January 21). War-driven labor shortage pushes Israel toward foreign workers. https://jewishworldnews.org/news/israel/war-driven-labor-shortage-pushe s-israel-toward-foreign-workers/

Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel. (2026, January 4). The Israeli Labor Market 2025: From Strategic Dangers to Opportunities. https://www.taubcenter.org.il/wp-content/up loads/2026/01/Labor-2025-ENG-1.pdf

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). (2008). Migrant Workers in Israel: A Contemporary Form of Slavery. https://www. dh.org/IMG/pdf/il1806a.pdf

Buy It In Israel. (2025, August 31). Around 47,000 Foreign Workers Entered Israel Since October 7. https://www.buyitinisrael.com/news/47000-foreign-workers-in-israel-since-war/

OECD. (2025, April). OECD Economic Surveys: Israel 2025. https://www.oecd.org/content/da m/oecd/en/publications/reports/2025/04/oecd-economic-surveys-israel-2025_18e45b04/d6dd 02bc-en.pdf

U.S. Department of State. (2021). Tra cking in Persons Report 2021: Israel. https://hotline.or g.il/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/USSD-2021-TIP-Report-Israel.docx

Abolish Slavery. (2020, August 29). Israel Abolish Slavery Mission. https://abolishslavery.org/ missions/Israel

Trading Economics. (2026, January 14). Israel In ation Rate. https://tradingeconomics.com/ israel/in ation-cpi

Reuters. (2025, May 26). Bank of Israel holds rates but worried by possible in ation acceleration. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/bank-israel-keeps-rates-hold-after-april-in ation-rise-2025–05–26/

Statista. (2025, February 16). Monthly in ation rate in Israel 2022–2025. https://www.statista. com/statistics/1475631/israel-monthly-in ation-rate/

Jerusalem Post. (2026, January 4). Foreign workers replace Palestinian labor in Israel, face hurdles. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-882372

Facebook/Yeni Şafak English. (2026, January 4). Since October 2023, foreign workers in Israel have reported increasing rights violations. https://www.facebook.com/YeniSafakEnglish/pos ts/foreign-workers-rights-violations-israel-october-2023

Labour Migration to Romania

 Labour migration to Romania has become central to keeping the country’s economy running, especially in construction, manufacturing, trade, logistics and hospitality, but rapid growth has exposed serious regulatory gaps, corruption risks and worker abuse by unethical intermediaries. Ethical recruitment platforms like Joblio, led by CEO Jon Purizhansky, now play a key role in protecting migrant workers while helping Romanian employers fill chronic labour shortages transparently and in full legal compliance.

Scale of migration and shortages

Romania has shifted from being mainly a country of emigration to a major importer of labour from Asia and other non‑EU states in less than a decade. By late 2024, around 140,000 non‑EU workers, mainly from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkey and India, were officially employed in Romania, concentrated in construction, manufacturing, trade and hospitality.

Non‑EU workers with residence permits for employment exceeded 136,000 by August 2025, with Nepalese and Sri Lankans forming the largest groups. Despite this inflow, employers still report a deficit of more than 500,000 workers across key sectors, driven by ageing, emigration of Romanians and low domestic participation.

Sectors hit hardest 

Several sectors have come to rely structurally on migrant workers to function. The steepest increases in non‑EU employment between 2019 and 2025 were recorded in:

- Construction: from about 9,800 to over 41,500 non‑EU employees, as housing, infrastructure and industrial projects accelerated.

- Manufacturing: from roughly 10,800 to nearly 38,700 workers, especially in assembly, food processing and light industry.

- Commerce and logistics: employment of non‑EU workers in trade and courier services more than doubled, with tens of thousands of jobs repeatedly posted as unfilled.

- Hospitality and services: hotels, restaurants and administrative services saw increases of 300–700%, making non‑EU workers a structural element of operations due to high turnover among local staff.

Regulatory framework and inefficiencies

Romania has progressively liberalised access for foreign workers but enforcement and design gaps remain. Key recent features and trends include:

- Rising annual quotas and digitalisation: work permits for non‑EU citizens have tripled over the last decade in Eastern Europe, with Romania among the main issuers; by 2024, work visa applications were filed exclusively online and permits were issued electronically.

- Permit structure and retention problem: in 2024 Romania granted over 57,000 new work permits but issued only 643 status‑change permits that would allow migrants to move into longer‑term or higher‑skilled residence categories, revealing a system oriented to short‑term labour rather than integration.

Inefficiencies and loopholes affect both employers and workers.

- Fragmented oversight: multiple institutions (immigration, labour inspectorate, employment agencies) share responsibility, which makes coordinated inspections and data collection difficult and allows abusive actors to exploit grey areas.

- Regulatory rigidity: some legislative changes in 2022 restricted migrant workers’ ability to change employers, tying residence rights to a single company and increasing vulnerability to abuse when conditions deteriorate.

- Limited support services: language barriers, lack of structured integration programmes and incomplete information about rights leave many workers dependent on intermediaries instead of official channels.

Abuse by intermediaries and associated risks 

Reports from NGOs and media document systemic exploitation of non‑EU workers in Romania, often starting in the country of origin. Unregulated or corrupt “middlemen” and local recruitment brokers are central to these abuses.

Common practices include: 

- False promises and contract substitution: workers are promised specific job titles, wages and accommodation, but upon arrival discover different contracts, lower pay, longer hours or inferior housing.

- Excessive and illegal fees: many migrants are charged large recruitment fees, “processing” costs, visa support payments or “placement” commissions, sometimes financed through debt, leaving them in debt bondage and afraid to leave abusive jobs.

- Passport retention and mobility restrictions: some employers or agents confiscate passports or threaten deportation, exploiting legal rules that limit workers’ ability to change employers without starting the migration procedure again.

- Harassment and unsafe work: foreign workers face higher risks of harassment, poor health and safety, unpaid overtime and crowding in employer‑controlled housing, with oversight focused more on undeclared work than on human rights.

These dynamics fuel corruption, including kickbacks for contracts, falsified documents and collusion between rogue agents in origin and destination countries.

Government action on corruption and criminality 

Romanian authorities have begun to adapt institutions and enforcement tools as labour immigration has grown. Notable directions include:

- Digital administration and traceability: fully online submission of work visa applications and electronic work permits are intended to reduce face‑to‑face bureaucratic interactions where petty corruption can flourish and to create auditable records of recruitment chains.

- Intensified labour inspections: the Labour Inspection Authority has expanded checks on companies employing foreign workers, focusing on contract compliance, wages, working time and accommodation conditions, although coverage still lags behind the scale of the phenomenon.

- Alignment with EU safeguards: Romania participates in EU‑level reforms such as the Single Permit Directive revision and the development of EU‑wide talent pools, which emphasise simplified, transparent procedures and better protection against abusive intermediaries.

Civil society and international organisations also pressure authorities to improve complaint mechanisms, allow easier employer changes for victims of abuse, and treat severe labour exploitation as a form of trafficking in human beings.

How Joblio and Jon Purizhansky reshape recruitment 

Within this context, Joblio positions itself as a technology‑driven alternative to the opaque, fee‑based recruitment chains that harm migrant workers and expose Romanian employers to legal and reputational risks. Jon Purizhansky, the CEO and founder of Joblio, has repeatedly argued that no worker should have to pay exorbitant fees or face unsafe conditions just to get a job abroad and that unethical brokers must be removed from the system.

Joblio’s model directly targets the specific abuses seen in Romania: 

- Direct, no‑middleman matching: Joblio connects Romanian employers with vetted migrant workers via a digital platform, cutting out informal intermediaries and “sub‑agents” who typically control information and extract fees.

- Zero worker‑paid recruitment fees: the platform’s core principle is that workers never pay “placement” or “processing” fees; revenue comes from employers who gain access to a compliant, pre‑screened talent pool.

- Verified contracts and full transparency: job offers, salary levels, deductions, accommodation details and working conditions are presented clearly in the worker’s own language before departure, reducing contract substitution and misunderstandings upon arrival.

- Compliance and monitoring: Joblio structures recruitment to respect Romanian labour, migration and health‑and‑safety rules, providing documentation trails that make it harder for corrupt practices to hide and easier for authorities or partners to audit.

How Joblio mitigates abuse risks in Romania 

Joblio’s approach aligns closely with the specific vulnerabilities of non‑EU workers heading to Romania. By design, it addresses several concrete risk points in the traditional recruitment chain:

- Before departure: Joblio’s screening and education process informs workers about their legal rights, expected wages, work hours, and complaint channels in Romania, reducing dependence on verbal promises from agents.

- During migration: the platform minimises the need for cash payments to intermediaries, which reduces debt and the leverage brokers have over workers and their families.

- On arrival and during employment: by keeping all contractual documentation and employer details on‑platform, Joblio makes it easier for workers to demonstrate agreed terms if disputes arise and for employers to show compliance to inspectors and auditors.

Joblio also collaborates with employers and, where possible, public and civil‑society stakeholders to develop ethical recruitment standards that match Romania’s legal framework and EU best practices, thereby helping the country both fill labour gaps and improve its reputation as a fair destination for migrant workers.

Sources

[1] Rozana Cozma – GC Powerlist - Legal 500 https://www.legal500.com/gc-powerlist/romania-2024/rozana-cozma/

[2] Job Immigration Challenges in Romania. The Role of Joblio https://www.jonpurizhanskybuffalo.com/job-immigration-challenges-in-romania-the-role-of-joblio/

[3] Most non-EU immigrants in Romania come from Nepal, Sri Lanka https://www.romania-insider.com/report-non-eu-immigrants-romania-nov-2025

[4] Jon Purizhansky Archives from Buffalo, New York https://www.jonpurizhanskybuffalo.com

[5] Between hate and exploitation: Migrant workers face rising risks in ... https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/68113/between-hate-and-exploitation-migrant-workers-face-rising-risks-in-romania

[6] [PDF] an exploratory study on labor immigration in Romania - FDSC https://www.fdsc.ro/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Bridging-Communities.pdf

[7] [PDF] The workforce shortage on the Romanian labor market https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/126172/4/MPRA_paper_126172.pdf

[8] Labour Market Information: Romania - EURES - European Union https://eures.europa.eu/living-and-working/labour-market-information/labour-market-information-romania_en

[9] Access to the labour market - Asylum Information Database https://asylumineurope.org/reports/country/romania/content-international-protection/employment-and-education/access-labour-market/

[10] Romania Becoming Top Destination for Migrant Workers Seeking Jobs https://etias.com/articles/romania-migrant-worker-hub

[11] Romania Work Permits 2025 | Non-EU Migrant Quota Confirmed https://aemi.ro/romania-migration-retention-policies-labour-shortages-demographic-decline/

[12] [PDF] Harassment of migrant and refugee workers in Romania Study and ... https://aleg-romania.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Designed_Policy-brief-migranti-2023_FINAL-ENG-VERSION.pdf

[13] Romania: International Migration Outlook 2025 - OECD https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2025/11/international-migration-outlook-2025_355ae9fd/full-report/romania_61960ad2.html

[14] Migrant integration in Romania - Migration and Home Affairs https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/migration-and-asylum/migrant-integration/migrant-integration-hub/eu-countries-updates-and-facts/migrant-integration-romania_en

[15] [PDF] OECD Reviews of Labour Market and Social Policies: Romania 2025 https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2025/06/oecd-reviews-of-labour-market-and-social-policies-romania-2025_e63230e7/f0532908-en.pdf

Joblio: How AI-Powered Ethical Recruitment Is Protecting Human Rights And Shaping Future Of Work

Joblio: How AI-Powered Ethical Recruitment Is Protecting Human Rights And Shaping The Future Of Work 

In an era when global labor shortages and worker migration are accelerating, the recruitment industry stands at a crossroads. Traditional cross-border hiring has too often depended on opaque intermediaries, illegal fees, and practices that put vulnerable people at risk of human rights abuses. Joblio, the ethical recruitment platform founded by refugee-turned-entrepreneur Jon Purizhansky, is using advanced technology and AI-driven processes to build a fundamentally different model—one designed to protect workers while helping employers access reliable talent worldwide.

Fixing a broken global recruitment system

For decades, migrant workers have been exposed to predatory brokers, deceptive promises, and hidden recruitment fees that can trap them in cycles of debt and vulnerability. Many pay thousands of dollars just to secure a job abroad, leaving them indebted before they ever receive their first paycheck, in conditions that can enable labor exploitation and even forced labor.

Joblio was created specifically to address these systemic failures. Built as a direct-connection platform between verified employers and vetted candidates, Joblio removes middlemen who profit from worker vulnerability. The company operates under a zero-fee policy for workers—employers pay for services, and workers are never charged recruitment fees—directly targeting one of the main root causes of labor exploitation and debt bondage in cross-border employment.

AI as a safeguard for human rights

Rather than using AI merely to speed up hiring, Joblio embeds human-rights safeguards into its algorithms and workflows. The platform’s matching and screening systems are designed to ensure that only legitimate, compliant job opportunities reach candidates and that these opportunities are aligned with applicable labor and ethical standards.

Joblio’s technology stack supports several layers of protection: 

- Automated verification processes for employers and vacancies help detect and block non-compliant or suspicious offers before they appear to jobseekers, reducing the risk of fraud and unsafe working conditions

- Structured digital workflows enforce transparent contract terms, zero-fee rules for workers, and documentation requirements, so that harmful practices are stopped by the system itself, not left to individual discretion. Matching algorithms prioritize suitability, legal compliance, and worker welfare rather than simply filling vacancies as quickly as possible, aligning technology with international human-rights norms rather than pure efficiency.

By integrating these principles into its AI and platform architecture, Joblio demonstrates that sophisticated technology can be used not only to optimize business outcomes but also to systematically prevent abuses that have historically been treated as “inevitable” side effects of global labor migration.

Radical transparency from application to arrival

One of the biggest drivers of exploitation in traditional recruitment is opacity: workers often do not fully understand the terms of their employment, the real conditions on the ground, or the true costs involved until it is too late. Joblio’s digital platform is built to replace that opacity with radical transparency at every step.

Candidates access verified job postings directly through Joblio’s platform, where roles, conditions, and compensation structures are clearly defined and standardized. The system records each step of the recruitment journey, creating an auditable trail that makes it far harder for bad actors to manipulate information, insert hidden fees, or alter contract terms once a worker has agreed to an offer.

Employers, in turn, benefit from clear documentation and verified candidate profiles, reducing risks related to compliance, reputational damage, and workforce instability. This mutual transparency helps align incentives between employers and workers, building trust into a process that has long been marked by uncertainty and imbalance.

Beyond hiring: supporting migrants through the Joblio method

Joblio’s commitment to human rights does not end with a signed contract. The company’s “Joblio method” and ACE (Applicant Concierge Experience ) programs offer holistic support that extends from pre-departure to on-the-ground integration in host countries

Through these initiatives, workers receive practical pre-departure orientation, cultural and financial education, and ongoing assistance that can include mental health support and help navigating everyday life in a new environment. Joblio’s community management approach also pays close attention to preserving social ties and religious practices, recognizing that true protection of rights includes dignity, belonging, and the ability to maintain one’s identity while working abroad.

This extended support model is especially vital for refugees and other highly vulnerable groups, for whom the risks of exploitation and marginalization are significantly higher. Drawing on his own experience as a former refugee, Jon Purizhansky has shaped Joblio’s mission around closing the gap between high-level human-rights principles and the everyday reality of workers on the move.

A blueprint for the future of work

As governments, multinational employers, and civil society organizations grapple with how to regulate AI and protect workers in a rapidly changing labor market, Joblio offers a practical, working example of technology aligned with human rights from the ground up.

The company’s model—AI-supported, zero-fee recruitment for workers, direct employer–candidate connections, automated compliance safeguards, and long-term community support—shows that it is possible to scale global labor mobility without normalizing exploitation. By demonstrating that ethical recruitment can be both technologically advanced and commercially viable, Joblio is helping define what the future of work can and should look like: transparent, inclusive, and rights-respecting for everyone involved.

For newspapers, policymakers, and business leaders, the message is clear. The same AI capabilities that can be used to cut corners or obscure responsibility can also be used to enforce fairness, protect people, and rebuild trust in global labor markets. Joblio’s approach suggests that the next chapter of AI in employment does not have to be about replacing humans—it can be about protecting them.

Revolutionizing Global Labor Migration: The Case for Government Partnerships with Joblio

In an era where labor migration drives economic growth yet remains plagued by exploitation and inefficiency, innovative platforms like Joblio are stepping up to offer transformative solutions.

Founded by Jon Purizhansky, Joblio is a technology-driven service that fosters ethical, transparent connections between employers and migrant workers worldwide. By examining the potential for public-private partnerships (PPPs) between governments and Joblio, we can understand how such collaborations could overhaul outdated recruitment systems. These partnerships address widespread issues in the global HR sector, including corrupt middleman networks that exploit workers from developing regions, while also mitigating security vulnerabilities that arise from opaque hiring processes. Joblio’s direct-connectivity model, enhanced by AI matching and rigorous verification, provides a scalable framework for governments to promote fair migration and bolster national interests.

Joblio functions as a digital ecosystem that eliminates intermediaries, enabling employers to list opportunities and workers to apply directly through a multilingual, accessible app. This approach eradicates hefty fees — often amounting to thousands of dollars — that burden migrants and lead to debt bondage. The platform prioritizes merit-based hiring with built-in tools for background checks, document validation, and ongoing monitoring to ensure integrity. As Purizhansky explains in an interview with Monaco Life, “Joblio technology brings the light into the darkest space in the world — the industry of the global relocation of human capital.” This highlights Joblio’s role in exposing and reforming a shadowy sector, positioning it as an ideal partner for governments aiming to enhance transparency and human rights in labor mobility.

The rationale for government partnerships is rooted in solving pervasive challenges: corruption, worker exploitation, and security risks. Traditional recruitment often involves chains of agents who demand bribes, distorting hiring and leaving workers vulnerable to poor conditions. Moreover, lax systems can allow unauthorized or risky entries, posing threats to economic stability and public safety. Through PPPs, governments could mandate employer registration on Joblio, use official channels to inform potential workers, and integrate AI-driven matching for efficient, vetted placements. Joint oversight bodies would ensure compliance, blending governmental authority with Joblio’s tech expertise to create a secure, direct hiring pipeline.

The benefits extend across economic, social, and security dimensions. By dismantling intermediary networks, these partnerships reduce bribery, enabling workers to access jobs without upfront costs and allowing employers to focus on skills rather than incentives. This fosters a more productive workforce in key industries like construction and agriculture.

As Purizhansky notes in the same Monaco Life discussion, emphasizing the ecosystem’s win-win nature: “Joblio steps into this ecosystem and rearranges the elements within it by taking out the middle man who adds no value and who creates human rights violations and inefficiencies for the government and the employers alike. We kick them out and we bring transparency, compliance and human rights into this where now everyone wins.”

Governments gain from lower crime rates, increased tax revenues, and stronger international relations, while sending countries benefit from reliable remittances and reduced exploitation.

On the security front, Joblio’s verification processes cross-check applicants against databases, minimizing risks from unvetted inflows. This is particularly vital in regions with high migration volumes, where transparency can prevent broader vulnerabilities. Real-world examples, such as Joblio’s integration with frameworks in the UAE, show how governments can leverage the platform for compliant, streamlined operations. Such models demonstrate scalability, with user-friendly features making them adaptable to diverse contexts.

Ultimately, collaborating with Joblio aligns with global priorities for ethical governance and digital innovation. As Jon Purizhansky reflects in a Business Wire announcement, “I’ve lived the reality that so many migrant workers face — uncertainty, lack of information, and the constant risk of exploitation. No one should have to pay exorbitant fees or risk their safety just to find work. Joblio eliminates the unethical brokers who prey on vulnerable workers and replaces them with a direct, transparent hiring model.”

This personal drive, informed by his own experiences, underscores Joblio’s commitment to dignity and equity.

Governments worldwide should consider Joblio as a strategic ally in modernizing migration systems. By embracing Public Private Partnerships they can drive economic vitality, protect human rights, and enhance security — paving the way for a more just and efficient global labor market.

Portugal Shows the United States How Labour Migration Should Work

As a lawyer and entrepreneur who has spent years navigating labour migration systems on both sides of the Atlantic, one conclusion is unavoidable: Portugal is doing what the United States still only talks about. While Washington debates reforms and clings to a slow, paperwork‑ heavy model, Lisbon is building a more agile, market‑responsive framework that actually gets workers where they are needed.

The core difference is philosophical. Portugal treats labour migration as an economic policy tool; the United States largely treats it as a compliance problem. In Portugal, policymakers start with the labour market: which sectors are short of talent, how quickly can those gaps be filled, and what legal pathways will give employers predictable timelines? In the U.S., employers must first survive an obstacle course of forms, audits, and lotteries before a foreign worker can even think of starting a job.

Consider how each country responds to shortages in sectors like IT, construction, health care, and tourism. Portugal has created targeted visa routes and “fast‑track” channels tied directly to shortage occupations, with explicit service‑level expectations for processing. A job offer in a priority sector can translate into a work visa and first working day in roughly a month, allowing businesses to plan and execute projects on realistic time horizons.

The U.S. approach is the opposite of fast‑track. The standard employment‑based route requires a multi‑stage labour certification process that can drag on for a year or longer before an immigrant petition is even filed. That petition then enters another queue, followed by a final stage for either a green card interview or consular processing. For nationals of oversubscribed countries, the wait for permanent status can stretch into many years. Meanwhile, the H‑1B system injects randomness into hiring through an annual lottery, meaning even genuinely needed workers may never get a chance to contribute.

Portugal has not created a perfect system, and it would be a mistake to romanticize it. Recent tightening of broad “job‑seeking” visas reflects the political and social realities of housing pressure, integration capacity, and public sentiment. Yet even these corrections are happening within a framework that still recognizes a simple truth: if you want economic growth and demographic sustainability, you must align migration rules with labour‑market needs and make the path into the workforce predictable.

The United States faces many of the same structural challenges Portugal is trying to solve. Employers across America cannot find enough qualified talent, particularly in fast‑growing regions and industries. At the same time, the country is aging, birth rates are falling, and productivity depends increasingly on attracting and retaining mobile, globally minded workers. Instead of leveraging labour migration as a strategic asset, the U.S. system often drives talent elsewhere — with Portugal and other EU states standing ready to benefit.

None of this means that Portugal is “more generous” than the United States. It means Portugal is more intentional. It has accepted that the choice is not between migration and no migration, but between managed migration and unmanaged migration. By focusing on speed, clarity, and alignment with economic needs, Portugal has built a model from which the United States can and should learn.

If the U.S. wants to remain competitive, it must move away from a culture of suspicion and bureaucratic delay toward a culture of transparent rules and reasonable timelines. That does not require abandoning enforcement, security, or labour protections. It requires designing a system where employers can understand the rules, comply with them, and reasonably expect that qualified workers will be allowed to fill real jobs in a rational period of time.

Portugal’s story shows that this is not a utopian aspiration. It is a policy choice. The United States can keep exporting talent and opportunity to more nimble jurisdictions — or it can finally build a Labour Migration System that matches the needs of its 21st‑century economy.

Originally Posted: https://jonpurizhansky.medium.com/portugal-shows-the-united-states-how-labour-migration-should-work-31ee88e0a7f8?postPublishedType=initial