Facebook has announced it will be part of Social Jobs Partnership in the US with the US Department of Labor, the National Association of Colleges and Employers DirectEmployers Association, and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies, to help the US jobless get back to work through social networks.

It will launch a central page that hosts resources and content designed to help jobseekers and employers at facebook.com/socialjobs and says it will also explore and develop systems where new job postings can be delivered virally through the Facebook site at no charge.

“Facebook is about connecting people so that they can share what’s important to them, and that is the driving force behind the Social Jobs Partnership,” said Marne Levine, Facebook vice-president of global public policy.

“We’ve brought employers, recruiters, college career services and government agencies together to help the millions of Americans who use Facebook find jobs.” While it’s early days, the move has generated much debate in the blogosphere regarding whether more formal job hunting might appear on the social network in the future. As Alastair Cartwright, managing director of online recruitment consultancy GR Online, part of the Granger Reis Group, points out, with 800m global users such a development is a “no brainer” in some respects although he has concerns about the personal/professional life fusion. “It doesn’t sit that comfortably with me and you have to ask whether it would see Facebook move away from its core purpose,” he said.

“While it works well for the graduate recruitment market and industries such as gaming, most people go on Facebook to socialise and like to keep their work and home life separate.”

www.facebook.com/socialjobs