Laborshed Employment Study Will Study Local Labor Force

Iowa Workforce Development

Iowa Workforce Development (file photo)

Mahaska County Agricultural & Rural Development, as well as Mahaska Community Development Group and colleagues in the Opportunity Squared Regional Development group, will be working with Iowa Workforce Development’s Regional Research Bureau to complete a Laborshed employment study for a seven-county area which includes, Mahaska, Marion, Monroe, Wapello, Keokuk, Appanoose, and Davis counties. This study will examine the labor force from which area employers draw their employees, and is based upon commuting patterns into the area. The study will assist existing and prospective businesses to better understand the size and characteristics of the area’s labor force regardless of political boundaries.

The Laborshed boundary is based on the place of residence of individuals commuting into the Opportunity Squared area for employment. For the success of this study, we will be sending letters to employers in Oskaloosa, Pella, Knoxville, Albia, Ottumwa, Sigourney, Centerville, and Bloomfield asking that they provide aggregate counts of their employees’ residential ZIP codes. This reporting will afford an understanding of where each community’s workforce resides.

Once that Laborshed area is determined, a confidential household telephone survey will be conducted in those identified areas. The questions will cover topics such as: employment status, current and desired wages, current and desired benefits, education level, and type of occupation. Survey results will be applied to demographic data to determine the size of the Opportunity Squared area labor force as well as various labor force characteristics. Iowa Workforce Development will not be asking survey takers any identifiable information such as: name, social security number, or date of birth.

The results for each county and regional Laborshed analysis can be found at https://www.iowaworkforcedevelopment.gov/laborshed-studies. Question about the Laborshed workforce project should be directed to Katie Lippold at 515-281-3035 or Deann De Groot at 641-672-2591. Thank you for your support and participation.

Posted by on Mar 23 2016. Filed under Clubs and Organizations, Local Businesses, Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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