Improving Access to Workforce Data will Better Serve Local Economies & Communities
Harrisburg, PA – Today, the Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association announced that 21 local workforce development boards have endorsed the association’s #FreetheData campaign. In a letter to legislators, leaders of the local workforce development boards asked for more real-time data that reflect the realities in the field for our workforce development system.
Currently, data shared by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry is limited to federal compliance reporting. As workforce development becomes critically important to supporting communities across Pennsylvania, equipping local organizations with the available data to inform and improve services is vital.
“A simple policy change like #FreetheData can make our programs stronger and more responsive,” said the leaders of the Local Workforce Development Boards. “It can help match employers and job seekers and provide the right training programs for emerging skills and market needs. It promotes shared responsibility and collaboration between the state and local workforce systems and eliminates administrative burdens that often become roadblocks to improving services.”
Local workforce boards and other stakeholders in Pennsylvania are experiencing a severe data lag that makes it difficult to evaluate and change workforce policies and programs effectively. Specifically, Unemployment Compensation and new hire data can take up to 24 months to access from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. Two-year-old data does not provide enough information to redesign programs or processes that improve customer outcomes. In the last several years, we have seen how quickly economic and workforce conditions have changed. We need access to more real-time data that reflect the realities in the field for our workforce development system.
The proposed legislation to #FreetheData has two primary components.
First, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry should share unemployment claims, unemployment wages, and new hire database information with Pennsylvania’s local workforce development boards and other stakeholders for performance accountability, evaluation, and research.
Second, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry should develop an accessible and usable dashboard platform that allows streamlined, user-friendly access to the data at any point in time.
The Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association is leading a coalition of workforce and community development organizations, including Allies for Children, Builders Guild of Western PA and Pittsburgh Works Together, Keystone Development Partnership, Keystone Research Center, Manufacturers’ Association of South Central PA, National Federation of Independent Business PA, PA Chamber of Business and Industry, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, and the United Way of Pennsylvania.
FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER
Dear [Legislator]
We appreciate all of the work you have done to make Pennsylvania’s workforce development system solid and responsive to the needs of job seekers, workers, and businesses. Pennsylvania is facing an unprecedented economic environment.
Businesses, public private partnerships, non profits, and academic institutions must make sure employers can find the skilled talent they need, and jobseekers can access family-sustaining employment.
Local Workforce Development Boards are the first point of contact for those seeking to improve their skills, find quality employment, or build their workforce. We sit at the intersection of employers, education, and workers.
Our interventions and initiatives provide meaningful outcomes and help to match unemployed workers with open positions in a timely manner and grow knowledge and skills. Like all organizations, we need to be able to evaluate and change our workforce practices, policies and programs as we learn more about the results.
It’s difficult to do this without data.
In the last several years, economic and workforce conditions have changed quickly. All organizations need access to more real-time data that reflect the realities in the field for our workforce development system.
Currently, data shared by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry is limited to federal compliance reporting; our #FreetheData effort promotes a movement that focuses on continuous improvement and performance evaluation for all of Pennsylvania’s communities.
Pennsylvania already collects and protects workforce data on unemployment claimants, unemployment wages, and new hires. This is not asking for new data. It is simply the data that the commonwealth already receives, but provided in a more timely and usable manner.
By accessing existing data, organizations – like local workforce development boards – can more efficiently address service delivery gaps and improve government transparency and openness.
The legislature and the Shapiro Administration should consider and pass legislation to fix this problem and allow organizations to provide timely services to workers, job seekers, and employers.
Legislation to #FreetheData should have two primary components.
First, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry should share unemployment claims, unemployment wages, and new hire database information with a variety of trusted stakeholders including Pennsylvania’s local workforce development boards for performance accountability, evaluation, and research.
Second, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry should develop an accessible and usable dashboard platform that allows streamlined, user-friendly access to the data at any point in time. This dashboard approach promotes equity in the data access and overcomes the analysis constraints that rural and smaller non-profit boards may face.
A simple policy change like #FreetheData can make our programs stronger and more responsive. It can help match employers and job seekers and provide the right training programs for emerging skills and market needs. It promotes shared responsibility and collaboration between the state and local workforce systems and eliminates administrative burdens that often become roadblocks to improving services.
Please consider legislation to #FreetheData so organizations like ours can help businesses and workers build the right programs and initiatives for workers, businesses, and job seekers.
Thank you for your focus and work on improving our commonwealth’s workforce.
Sincerely,
Carrie Amann, Executive Director
PA Workforce Development Association
| Ami Gatts, PresidentSouthwest Corner Workforce Development Board | Erica Mulberger, Executive DirectorAdvance Central PA |
| Janet Ward, Executive DirectorWestmoreland-Fayette Workforce Development Board | H. Patrick Clancy, President & CEOPhiladelphia Works |
| Anna Ramos, Executive DirectorLancaster County Workforce Development Board | Jesse McCree, CEOSCPA Works |
| Robert Cherry, CEOPartner4Work | Kate McGeever, DirectorDelaware County Workforce Development Board |
| Virginia Turano, Executive DirectorLackawanna County Workforce Development Board | Patricia Lenahan, Executive DirectorLuzerne-Schuylkill Workforce Investment Board |
| Jennifer Butler, Executive DirectorMontcoWorks | Lisa Miller, DirectorNWPA Job Connect |
| Sam Hellen, Executive DirectorPoconos Workforce Development Board | Billie Barnes, Executive DirectorCounty of Bucks Workforce & Economic Development |
| Jeanette Roman, DirectorChester County Workforce Development Board | Melissa Fleming, Deputy DirectorNorthern Tier Workforce Development Board |
| Jennifer Sklodowski, DirectorSouthern Alleghenies Workforce Development Board | Mary Salony, Executive DirectorTri-County Workforce Investment Board |
| Gregg Dogan, Chief Administrative OfficerWest Central PA Job Partnership | Nancy Dischinat, Executive DirectorWorkforce Board Lehigh Valley |
| Pam Streich, DirectorWorkforce Solutions for North Central PA |
The Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association (PWDA) serves as the voice of the Pennsylvania workforce development system and a clearinghouse for workforce development information statewide. Known for Pennsylvania’s premier annual workforce development gathering every spring, we provide development and capacity building opportunities to workforce development professionals, local workforce development boards (WDBs), and other stakeholders while continuing proactive advocacy efforts on behalf of Pennsylvania’s workforce development system. Learn more by visiting https://www.pawork.org