Home News Statewide Laborshed study underway

Statewide Laborshed study underway

Iowa WorkForce Development

The Iowa Workforce Development is conducting its most recent statewide Laborshed study, the last one being conducted in 2021.  A Laborshed is defined as the area from which an employment center attracts its workers, usually a larger metropolitan area that draws employees from outlying areas. Commuting patterns are determined and surveys help measure the availability […]

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The Iowa Workforce Development is conducting its most recent statewide Laborshed study, the last one being conducted in 2021.  A Laborshed is defined as the area from which an employment center attracts its workers, usually a larger metropolitan area that draws employees from outlying areas. Commuting patterns are determined and surveys help measure the availability and characteristics of labor within those areas. “Local economic development teams, existing and prospective employers, as well as educational institutions, policy makers, and others use the results of these studies to familiarize themselves with the current labor market characteristics of their area,” said Bridget Weddle, Iowa Workforce Development labor market research economist. This data can be useful in the decision-making process for business expansion, business-startups, businesses moving into the market, and the recruitment of desired workforce. It also informs existing and prospective employers about labor availability, education level of the available workforce, job search resources used, current and desired wages, current and desired benefits, and a multitude of other workforce characteristic data which is collected through the survey.”

The process

The process begins when IWD sends out a news release to employers of five or more employees requesting their zip codes. The zip codes helps determine commuting patterns and guides where data should be collected -- once the zip codes are collected, a telephone and online survey is sent out. A vendor in Missouri conducts the surveys in the node cities of the seven counties in the ICR region, which includes the Amanas, Cedar Rapids metro area, Iowa City/Coralville metro area, Monticello, Tipton, Vinton, and Washington. For the online surveys, the vendor sends a letter to a random sample of households in the node areas and requests that the recipient goes online to take the survey.

Biotech in Iowa City

“When it comes to state-wide data, it’s probably the best data we have access to,” said Austin Korns, director of business development at Greater Iowa City, Inc.. “We use it all the time…when we’re talking to site selectors, this answers a lot of the questions that they want to know from the very beginning. How many people from your Laborshed are willing to accept work, (and) what do those demographics look like?” For Iowa City, a hub for the bio/med tech industry, the study answers questions such as the cost to build a structure and buy land, available workforce and average pay grades typical for the industry. When a biotech company considers the area, one of the first things shared is the bio-specific Laborshed report, which has a lot of relevant info to help make the decision on where and if to settle in the city. “We really do rely on this data,” said Mr. Korns, “it’s important for us to do our job well, to have good information like this.” 

RFPs in Cedar Rapids

Laura Seyfer, workforce specialist with the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, said Cedar Rapids uses the data with business attraction work. “When we get Request for Proposals from site selectors, there is always a section about workforce. We share this data along with other data and information to show how we have a strong workforce in this region,” she said. The information collected helps the city’s economic development team and guides some of its workforce programs/initiatives. The survey extends from Sept-Dec. and results typically manifest 2-3 months after the survey is completed, with the entire process taking anywhere from 6-9 months.  

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