IMHO the author does answer the question without even noticing it. At the end of the post, "The larger employers and job-hosting web sites need to get their ac

IMHO the author does answer the question without even noticing it. At the end of the post, "The larger employers and job-hosting web sites need to get their acts together and work this out". In a comment right below, the author says that this would be "giving job-seekers more control over their data". Obviously, the larger employees and job-hosting web sites have no interest in allowing job-seekers more control over their data, quite the opposite, so they won't. And their active cooperation is absolutely required for such a data format to be adopted - so it won't be, at least not in a way that satisfies the author's wish of gaining more control over their data. That's it, it's that simple.