Source: WCEDC
Author: Jason White
Date: Thursday, March 27, 2014 Time: 12:12 PM

The Warren County Economic Development Corporation is working with Iowa Workforce Development’s Regional Research Bureau to complete a Laborshed employment study for the Warren County area.  This study will examine the labor force from which Warren County area employers draw their employees, and will be based upon in-commuting patterns. The study will assist existing and potential businesses to better understand the size and characteristics of the area’s labor force regardless of political boundaries.

The Laborshed boundary is determined based upon the places of residence of individuals commuting into the Warren County area for employment.  For the success of this study, we will be sending letters to employers in Warren County asking that they provide us with aggregate counts of their employees’ residential ZIP codes.  This reporting will give us 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 total potential labor force of the Warren County area 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 http://www.iowaworkforce.org/lmi/labsur/index.html. If you have any question about the Laborshed employment study project, please contact Ryan Murphy at (515) 281-7505 or Jason White at (515) 961-1067.

Link to original article: Press Release – Laborshed 12.3.13.pdf