The Workforce Information Council helps guide the development and improvement of the nationwide workforce and labor market information system. This system provides information on labor market trends and conditions, job outlook and wages, skill requirements of jobs, and a wide variety of other information that helps customers make decisions about their businesses, careers, training, and job search.
At this web site you can find information about the Council and its activities, about the workforce information system and about how to access workforce and labor market information for your local area, state, or the nation.
Information about the workforce, labor market, and careers in your local area, state, and the nation can be located by going to the workforce information portal.
News!
Workforce Information Council to Meet on February 27-28 in Washington, DC
The Workforce Information Council (WIC) federal members in Washington, DC will host the WIC for the Council's meeting on February 27-28, 2013. WIC Co-Chairs Thomas Nardone/BLS and Rebecca Rust/FL will lead the WIC agenda for the two day meeting. Rebecca Rust of Florida took the place as WIC State Co-Chair of the retiring Steve Saxton from California on January 1.
There have been a couple of other changes to the Workforce Information Council. Bill Anderson of Nevada is a new 2013-2014 state member who started his WIC term in January 2013 and will attend his first meeting as a member. Kenneth Robertson, BLS, joined the WIC back in July as a federal member. Amanda Ahlstrand of ETA is a new DOL ETA participant.
A variety of topics are on the agenda. The council will discuss actions by the various policy councils from the BLS State Cooperative programs. Other topics on the agenda for the late February meeting include: Development Process for the Workforce Information System Plan for 2013; WIC Study Group Reports from the Customer Consultation, High Tech Taxonomy, and, Administrative Wage Records Paper; and, reports from key system partners (BLS, ETA, NASWA, C2ER, and Census/LED).
WIC Customer Consultation Study Group Activities
The Customer Consultation Study Group was chartered in August 2010 and is chaired by Sue Mukherjee of PA. The WIC Study Group will assist the Workforce Information Council and state workforce information departments in developing/implementing methods for retrieving feedback from customers regarding the relevance, adequacy, and usability of available labor market information and the methods of delivering that information. This effort will support the States and the Council in their efforts to consult with users, as required under Section 309 of the Workforce Information Act, in a manner that can be consistently applied across the states. The Study Group will provide input and advice to states for collecting information on the degree to which existing labor market information is meeting or not meeting customer needs.
The Workforce Investment Act calls for: states to consult with state and local employers, participants, and local workforce investment boards about the labor market relevance of the data to be collected and disseminated through the statewide employment statistics system; and, consult with State/local educational agencies concerning the provision of employment statistics in order to meet the needs of secondary school and postsecondary school students who seek such information.
The April 2012 report LMI Customers and Their Needs: Customer-Oriented LMI Product Innovation and the February 2012 report Meeting Customer Needs, Workforce Information Council State Representatives Outcomes Measurement Project Volume III were reports assisting in the Study Group's mission. The LMI product summary and the compendium contained examples of state workforce information projects/products to meet private sector needs, produce green job data, help aid economic recovery, develop policy, answer program questions, and/or shape future state/local initiatives.
The PA agency took the LMI product/user matrix produced by C2ER (Council for Community and Economic Research) in the LMI Customers and Their Needs report to develop a self assessment tool for state workforce information departments to analyze their LMI products, services, and reports. All state workforce statistics agencies will be receiving a copy of this helpful tool.
The logical next step was to examine some of the best practices out in the states to see how they were interacting with their customers and disseminating information - with primary emphasis on online LMI information delivery. The current project underway by the Study Group is a state LMI website satisfaction survey using ForeSee Results, Inc. This website project is expected to include 19 states who will administer a global customer questionnaire on their respective LMI websites.
The Workforce Information Council's Customer Consultation Study Group plans to conduct later this year a next phase project seeking to gather qualitative data about a diverse array of customer types to better understand current customer uses of various LMI data products.
This assessment also seeks to explore why potential customers may not use certain data products. To accomplish this, the CCSG will work with the LMI Training Institute to accomplish a work plan that involves engaging in a series of in-depth focus groups with customer groups identified in the next section. In addition, the project will include a listening session with selected LMI Directors to discuss internal efforts within states to address concerns expressed during the focus group sessions.
The Customer Consultation Study Group believes these projects recently completed, underway, and planned for later this year are critical steps in efforts to understand the needs of customers and improve online LMI delivery.
For more information on any of these projects, email wicedtoyou@yahoo.com.
NAWB National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) Conducts Forum 2013 in Washington, DC
The Workforce Information Council will have an exhibit at the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) Forum 2013 is to be held March 9-12 in Washington, DC. The theme of their annual meeting will be "Dialogue for Workforce Excellence." Around 1,500 workforce development professionals from across the U.S. and from several foreign countries attended.
Most of the attendees are members of state, regional, and local workforce boards from around the country. Workshops and issue forums will be offered in many areas dealing with a variety of workforce issues - customer service; technology; program management; career development; LMI; diversity; communication; collaboration/problem solving; business & employer knowledge; and workforce system structure.
Keynote speakers will provide discussion around various themes, including - theme 1-keynote by Bill Strickland, President & CEO, Manchester Bidwell Corporation; theme 2/Supporting Business Growth at Home: James Key Lim, CEO, Delivering Happiness at Work, Mark Pinsky, President & CEO, Opportunity Finance Network, and, Robert Wolfe, Cofounder, Crowdrise; and, theme 3/Communities with a Competitive Workforce Advantage in a Global Economy: Jim Clifton, Chairman & CEO, Gallup and Jonas Prising, President of the Americas, Manpower Group. Various Department of Labor and various legislative speakers on Congressional workforce action expected in the coming year will be included.
The WIC display will highlight State LMI publications and services, showcasing many state products/projects contained in the February 2012 LMI Meeting Customer Needs document. The WIC's Customer Consultation Study Group publication titled LMI Customers and Their Needs will also be distributed. A list of Workforce Information directors will be available and the links to the various state LMI shops and DOL BLS/ETA web sites highlighted.
DOL ETA LMI Podcasts
The U.S. Employment and Training Administration has issued a new series of podcast guides to help individuals find and use labor market and workforce statistics. You can find these Quick-Lesson Podcastshere, or using this itemized list.
The 6 new podcast guides explain and are written simply, and presume no previous subject matter or statistical knowledge. They should prove helpful for a broad variety of audiences and purposes, including: grant applications; targeting growing industries and occupations; pinpointing labor market hardship; state and regional planning; and assessing program effectiveness.
Each is comprised of a podcast roughly 10 minutes long plus a transcript of 2-3 pages. The podcast and transcript can be used either separately or together: the links can't be accessed from the podcasts, but the podcasts include visuals not available in the transcripts. Each topical presentation includes basic definitions, a brief historical background, links to the most important data sources, and practical tips on how to interpret and use the data and avoid common mistakes.
For more information, contact Frank Gallo of ETA at Gallo.Frank@DOL.gov
Workforce Information Portal
The Workforce Information Portal is an on-line resource, providing customers with a one-stop access point to workforce information sources on the web. The portal provides quick access to state on-line workforce information and career information sites, as well as national resources. This one-stop access point is especially important to customers who want information from more than one state, or are not sure where to go to get information for their state or locality.
The portal gives the customer different avenues to web resources: by type of customer (individuals, businesses, and researchers), by geography, or by agency. The links also include web sites for kids. The site is at www.workforceinformation.org.