18 Mar Workforce by the Numbers: Charlotte Works expands data, labor market research efforts
Workforce by the Numbers is our monthly look at the statistics and data that are shaping the workforce in the Charlotte region.
Those in workforce development (local government, education and nonprofit leaders) have a need for accurate and current data for decision-making.
And research is a major component of Charlotte Works’s 2015 Strategic Plan – FINAL.
So we’ve taken many steps to improve our commitment to service excellence and to build our research team and its capacity to provide labor-market intelligence to our community partners, employers and clients; and enhanced performance data to our staff and board of directors.
The research department is responsible for designing and maintaining performance dashboards for our board of directors and leadership team. It also performs labor-market research and analysis for both employers and job-seekers and researches workforce best-practices in other communities.
In July 2015, we partnered with local economic development organizations the Centralina Council of Governments, the Charlotte Chamber and the Charlotte Regional Partnership to share a new labor market research tool, JobsEQ by Chmura Economics. It provides up-to-date and accessible data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other government sources.
Additionally, we purchased software product Wanted Analytics to provide current labor-market information on job postings and hiring demands in the Charlotte area.
This month, Charlotte Works joined the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER). C2ER “promotes excellence in community and economic research by working to improve data availability, enhance data quality and foster learning about regional economic analytic methods.” C2ER provides a national cost-of-living index; a state incentives database; and access to weekly newsletters in economic development and monthly journal “Journal of Applied Research in Economic Development.”
In addition to acquiring new tools and organizational memberships to assist in our data and research efforts, we’ve also recently added a new member to our research team: Cortney Graham, research and reporting fellow. She is a graduate of Winston-Salem State University and a former educator with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and brings several years of experience with data analysis and research.
The fellowship is a partnership between our research department and UNC Charlotte’s Gerald G. Fox Master of Public Administration program, which trains emerging leaders for work in the public and nonprofit sectors in the Charlotte region and beyond.
“I have a passion for helping people better themselves. I was attracted to this fellowship opportunity because, after deciding to leave the classroom. I wanted another job that allowed me to continue to positively impact the lives of others,” Graham says.
Her addition has expanded the capacity of the research department and will help to ensure that Charlotte Works can provide data and information about the latest workforce trends in Mecklenburg County.
The department’s current projects include updating our industry-sector career ladders and occupations-in-demand list, and developing a monthly labor market dashboard and website. The career ladders will be available online later this spring; the dashboard and website are currently in the project-planning phase.
If you’re interested in learning more about Charlotte Works’s labor-market intelligence and data, or have a data need, contact me to see if we can help!
Image courtesy of supakitmod at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.