LABOR MARKET INFORMATION IN A ONESTOP ENVIRONMENT

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LABOR MARKET INFORMATION IN A ONE-STOP
ENVIRONMENT
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Local LMI Uses

• Traditional Uses
• To guide program and planning decisions
• As a tool to help set long- range goals and
  objectives
• An indicator of general labor force needs
• A predictor of job placement and other client
  outcomes
• A means of identifying demand occupations
• Tells where (what sector, what geographic area,
  etc) you can have the greatest economic impact
• Show high tech verses low tech or entry level
  job growth
• Basic infrastructure conditions (child care,
  transportation, etc)
• Examine wage and earnings patterns

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Local LMI Uses

• New One-Stop Uses
• A recognition that LMI is NOT just numbers and
  statistics
• A tool to help guide client customer career
  decisions
• A tool to help understand employer needs
• A tool to identify the skills that need to be
  taught/learned
• A tool to help employers and you understand what
  you CAN and CAN NOT do to help them meet their
  needs
• DATA SOURCES THAT CAN TELL YOU WHAT YOU NEED TO
  DO IN YOUR ONE-STOP TO CLOSE THE GAP BETWEEN ...

LABOR MARKET INFORMATION
JOB SEEKERS
JOBS
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Who Needs To Know About LMI?

• Management Staff
• Planners
• Program Development Specialists
• Grant Writers
• Administrators

• Front-Line Staff
• Customer Service Representatives
• Intake Assessment Staff
• Job Development Staff
• Job Placement Staff
• Employment Counselors
• Job Coaches
• ANYONE INVOLVED IN CLIENT CUSTOMER SERVICE

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Who Needs to Know About LMI?

• Client Customers
• Meet WIAs Self-Service Priorities
• Address Work First Philosophies of WTW, WIA
• Establish and Identify Their Individual Labor
  Market based on
• Education Level Current Job Skills
• Mobility Status Earnings Needs
• Personal Responsibilities (Child
  Care, etc.)
• Employer Customers
• Critical Decision Making (expand, maintain,
  downsize)
• Business Location or Relocation
• Labor Availability
• Wage Benefit Structure
• In-house Training
• Sources of Government Assistance

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Where Can We Get LMI?

• MACRO LEVEL INFORMATION
• US Department of Labor
• State Department of Labor
• Census Data
• Business Journals/Publications
• Economic Development Agencies
• Other State and Local Agencies
• Plans/Studies (Transportation,Child Care, etc.)
• Historical Records (client service levels, job
  placement data, etc.)
• MICRO LEVEL INFORMATION
• Client Customers
• Local Employers
• One-Stop Staff

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Toward Informed Customer Choice

• Personal Labor Market
• Every individual has their own labor market
• Ten factors that influence an individuals labor
  market
• 1. Transportation
• 2. Educational Level
• 3. Money/Earnings
• 4. Current Job Skills
• 5. Work History
• 6. Child care
• 7. Knowledge of Available Jobs
• 8. Job Pre-Requisites Other than Education/
  Skills
• 9. Motivation
• 10. Work Hours verses Family/ Home
  Responsibilities

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Toward Informed Customer Choice

• Employer Based Labor Market
• Every employer has their own labor market
• Ten factors that influence an employers labor
  market
• 1. Economy (labor surplus verses labor
  shortage)
• 2. Wages and Benefits Offered
• 3. Location
• 4. Skills Required for the Types of Jobs
  Available
• (Education Requirements Job Skill
  Requirements)
• 5. Competition for Employees
• 6. Physical Work Environment
• 7. Respect/Treatment of Workers (image)
• 8. Job Pre-Requisites Other than
  Education/Skills
• 9.Career Advancement Opportunities
• 10. Other (education assistance, flex-time,
  on-site child care, etc.)

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IDENTIFY Questions That We Ask

• Where do the personal and employer labor market
  needs overlap?
• Commonalties
• What needs CAN the One-Stop System address?
• Directly (I have to do it - no one else
  can/will)
• Indirectly ( Who can I link with so I dont have
  to do it myself)
• Both (who shares these interests - PARTNERS)
• What needs MUST the One-Stop System address?
• Priorities
• Financial Considerations
• Staff Considerations
• Space Considerations

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BUILD Questions That We Ask

• How can I go about addressing those areas of need
  in the most cost-effective and service effective
  manner?
• PARTNERSHIPS
• How am I going to organize information so that it
  useful to and usable by my customers (CLIENTS
  EMPLOYERS) ?
• How it is presented is as important as what it
  is
• Computerize it (but only if your customers know
  how to and
• routinely use a computer)
• How am I going to communicate to my customers
  (CLIENTS EMPLOYERS) that I have all of this
  great information and an ability to help them?
• Market It!
• Sell It!

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CHECK Questions That We Ask

• How will I look at results to assure that what I
  am doing is working?
• Evaluate It!
• Client Customer Satisfaction Surveys
• Employer Customer satisfaction Surveys
• Front-line Staff Input
• Usage Patterns (Swipe card System)
• How will I continue to collect data to keep the
  information that I am using current?
• Follow-up
• Make Changes as Needed to Assure Use Occurs

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CONVERGENCE
MACRO DATA
STAFF INPUT
CLIENT CUSTOMERS (Personal LMI)
EMPLOYER CUSTOMERS (Employer LMI)
ONE-STOP LABOR MARKET INFORMATION
JOB SEEKERS
JOBS
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Obtaining Useful LMI
Rules of Engagement 1st Rule Dont start an LMI
Project if the data you want already exists. 2nd
Rule The data you are looking for probably
already exists. LOOK FOR IT, AGAIN! 3rd Rule
Dont call it an LMI Project. 4th Rule Find
partners that can and will help 5th Rule Involve
Employers!
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Plug Into The Power

• WHAT WAS IT?
• WNJPIN Marketing Project
• One-Stop System Development Project
• WIB Community Relations Project
• Employer Outreach Project
• WHAT DID IT PRODUCE?
• Information about recent local hiring trends
• Information about general skill levels (low -
  intermediate - advanced) of jobs where hiring was
  occurring
• Information on sources employers were currently
  using to find workers
• Increased employer awareness of the One-Stop
  system
• Increased employer awareness and use of WNJPIN
• Identified employer wants from the One-Stop
  system
• Formed the basis for the redesign of the
  One-Stops Business Services Unit to better
  address employer needs

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Hiring Trend Information

• 1400 employers surveyed
• 732 responses received
• 50 response rate
• Of the respondents
• 92 hired at least one new employee in the past
  year
• 56 hired 10 or more new employees in the past
  year
• 28 of the hiring occurred in entry level jobs
  requiring minimal education and/or job skills
• 22 of the hiring occurred in jobs that required
  a high school diploma but the employer could
  teach required job skills
• 35 of the hiring occurred in jobs requiring
  technical training or some post secondary
  education
• 15 of the hiring occurred in jobs requiring a
  post secondary degree

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Hiring Trend Information

• The most common avenues used by employers to
  identify new hires were . . .
• Newspaper advertising
• Walk-in applicants
• Current employee referrals
• but most employers were not able to fill their
  current labor needs using these sources!
• Less than 20 of the employers were aware of or
  used One-Stop agencies.
• Less than 7 of the employers were aware of or
  used WNJPIN when seeking new hires.

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Employer Needs Information

• 1. Common Skills Needed by all Employees
• Basic Work Ethics Skills
• Basic Academic Skills
• Thinking/Reasoning Skills
• Workplace Competency Skills
• 2. Source of Access to Entry Level Workers
• 3. Assistance in Eliminating Entry Level Worker
  Skill Gaps
• 4. Access to Higher Skilled Workers
• 5. Assistance in Eliminating Occupational Skills
  Gaps

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Employer Needs Information

• 6. Information on and Access to
  Training/Education and Other Available Government
  Services
• 7. Worker Retention Strategies
• 8. Transportation Assistance
• 9. An Easy Way to Access the Services and
  Information Available at the One-Stop
• 10. A Closer Relationship between Business and
  the One-Stop (personal visits, tours, use of
  One-Stop facility for HR functions, etc.)

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How We Used This Information

• 1. Guided our One-Stop and WIA Resource
  Allocation
• 30 - Core Services
• 40 - Intensive Services
• 30 - Training Services
• 2. Developed Career Labs at the One-Stop that
  address work ethic, workplace competency, and
  the related essential workplace skill needs and
  made participation in them a part of our core
  services offerings.
• 3. Instituted a Marketing Effort for WNJPIN and
  the One-Stop
• Speakers Bureau (presentations to Chambers of
  Commerce and other Business Associations about
  the One-Stop and WNJPIN)
• Developed and distributed An Employers Guide to
  Labor Force Resources
• Developed and distributed An Employers Guide to
  WNJPIN

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How We Used This Information

• 3. Marketing (continued)
• Developed and distributed WNJPIN promotional
  material (bumper stickers, pens, phone book
  covers, job order forms, etc.)
• Held training sessions and individual on-site
  tutorials for businesses wanting to utilize
  WNJPIN
• 4. Redesigned the One-Stop Business Services Unit
  creating a single point of business contact for
  the entire workforce system.
• 5. Began School Counts a business/education
  alliance that promotes high school completion as
  an avenue to access to a broader and better job
  market for youth.
• 6. Instituted a Transportation Feeder System
  linking the Vineland Industrial Park with an
  existing NJ Transit Bus route.

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How We Used This Information

• 7. Held an Employer Conference - Plug Into The
  Power
• Partnered with UEZ, Chambers, Economic
  Development Agencies, and local print media
• Provided over 125 local employers with
  information about how to access education,
  training, employment, and support service systems
• Obtained more feedback from employers on their
  One-Stop system needs.
• 8. Formed an Adult Education and Literacy Task
  Force to address employer concerns about
  workplace readiness of new employees.
• 9. Holding a Follow-Up Employer Conference
  (12/07/01) centered on workplace
  education/literacy and customized training
  opportunities.
• 10. Developing a GIS Mapping System to show
  customers the relationship of their personal
  labor market to the local employer labor market.