Evidence Building Capacity in State Workforce Agencies - COVID-19 Pulse Survey

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and recession, every state workforce agency was facing pressing operational and policy issues that research insights could help address. The recession and jobs crisis have only increased their need and desire to use timely data to better understand local labor markets, labor market outcomes, and demographic and geographic disparities, to inform policy and program development, and to gauge which interventions or strategies work--and for whom. Not all state workforce agencies have the resources or capacity to pursue their priority research efforts, however, particularly when research relies on access to a secure data sharing infrastructure, cross-state information, and advanced data analytic and research skills.

During November and December 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) conducted a survey of state workforce agencies to better understand their research capacity and assistance needs.NASWA sent the survey to all state workforce agency administrators, with cc’s to labor market information (LMI), education and training, and unemployment insurance (UI) directors, and asked that each state workforce agency coordinate one response for the state.