Phone survey coming for workers in Perry, Adel laborshed areas

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The 2014 laborshed study of the Perry area identified the total potential labor force at 310,678 across the entire laborshed. This map from the 2014 study represents commuting patterns into Perry, with the concentration per ZIP code represented in the legend. Those found willing to change or accept employment in the Perry laborshed area were willing to commute an average of 22 miles one way for employment opportunities.

laborshed logoIf someone calls one day soon and asks you how far you drive to work, whether you are satisfied with your wages, how far you went in school — don’t hang up. It is not a phone scam but the 2016 Laborshed Workforce Project gathering data.

The Greater Dallas County Development Alliance (GDCDA) will be working over the next few months with the Iowa Workforce Development’s Regional Research Bureau (RRB) to complete a laborshed employment study for the Adel and Perry areas.

The Laborshed Workforce Project examines the characteristics of the labor pool from which Adel and Perry area employers draw their employees. The data will be based upon commuting patterns into the areas.

The study will ultimately help existing and potential businesses to better understand the size and characteristics of the area’s labor force regardless of political boundaries such as cities or counties.

The laborshed boundary is based on the place of residence of individuals commuting into the Adel and Perry area for employment. In th first phase of the study, the GDCDA and RRB will send letters to employers in Adel and Perry, asking them to provide aggregate counts of their employees’ residential ZIP codes. This reporting will help toward understanding where each community’s workforce resides.

Once the laborshed area is determined, a confidential household telephone survey will be conducted in the 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 then be applied to demographic data to determine the size of the Adel- and Perry-area labor force as well as various labor force characteristics. Iowa Workforce Development callers will not ask survey takers for any identifiable information, such as name, Social Security number or date of birth.

A laborshed is defined as the area or region from which an employment center, such as Perry, draws its commuting workers. The laborshed analysis addresses underemployment, the availability and willingness of current and prospective employees to change employment within the workforce, current and desired occupations, wages, hours worked and distance willing to commute to work.

IWD logoThe results of previous city, county and regional laborshed studies can be found at the IWD website.

For more information about the Laborshed Workforce Project, call Katie Lippold at 515-281-3035 or Linda Wunsch at 515-987-2020.

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