Best Practices Award | Iowa Workforce Development

In late 2021, as the Covid-19 pandemic eased and labor demand grew, Iowa’s worker shortage had become severe. The state’s workforce agency, Iowa Workforce Development (IWD), decided to create a new delivery model to return unemployment insurance (UI) to its original mission as a public safety net that rapidly propels individuals back onto their feet in new jobs. Specifically, IWD’s goals were to engage and equip UI claimants to reduce their average length of unemployment and boost the state’s economy by filling Iowa employers’ large backlog of open jobs.