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Recruiter urges Vienna to boost online outreach, centralize community events to attract and retain workers
Summary
Lauren Childress, a global talent manager who lives in Vienna, told the City Council that better web and social-media presence and a centralized events listing would help local employers recruit and retain workers. Council members discussed using quarterly newsletters and a single city portal to promote activities to prospective employees.
Lauren Childress, global talent manager at Momentum and a 14-year Vienna resident, told the Vienna City Council on Jan. 13 that the city could help local employers recruit and retain workers by making community information easier to find online and by coordinating with large local employers.
Childress told the council that when candidates consider relocating they “Google…go online…go on Facebook and look at what groups are out there,” and that if a community can’t be found or easily explored online, candidates are less likely to relocate there. She recommended that the city and local employers share event and activity information, and that the council consider routing the city’s quarterly newsletter to corporate HR staff so new hires receive packets of local information.
Why it matters: local manufacturers and hospitals recruit nationally and regionally; easy access to up-to-date community information can influence whether candidates accept relocations and whether current employees stay. Council members said a centralized, evergreen listing of parks, programs and recreational activities would help both recruiters and residents.
Childress described recruitment differences by life stage: single recent graduates often seek social and cultural activity; young families and parents prioritize school quality and youth sports. She suggested the council coordinate with employers and HR teams at local plants to include vetted community materials in new-hire packets and to keep social pages and websites current so recruiters can point candidates to a single, reliable source.
Several council members and members of the public supported the idea of a single online hub. One council member offered to sponsor a student to compile local activities for a city or regional portal, and Henry Sasson, a Vienna resident who spoke during public forum, recommended the council make parks, trails and youth programming easy to find on the Vienna website. Council members noted Vienna Rec already posts activities and agreed to check consistency between Vienna Rec and the city site.
Council discussion also touched on connecting candidates to events through employer channels. Henry Sasson suggested sending the city newsletter quarterly to Momentum for inclusion in recruiter packets; Childress said she already uses such newsletters personally to add events to her calendar. Council members agreed staff should explore practical steps—linking or consolidating event calendars, confirming Vienna Rec content, and improving the city’s social-media presence.
Council members did not adopt formal policy at the meeting; staff were asked to follow up on feasibility and to coordinate with Momentum and other employers.
Ending: Council members thanked Childress for the presentation and asked staff to pursue ways to make Vienna’s activities and amenities more discoverable for prospective and current employees.
