How to communicate workforce availability beyond “a skilled workforce”

In this article

1. Start your EDO workforce page with the employer's occupations
2. Explain what occupational employment data measures
3. Keep unemployment measures separate from project-specific recruits
4. Define the workforce geography before drawing a map
5. Show employers how local training pathways work
6. Build a workforce evidence table your EDO can maintain
7. Give site selectors a specific workforce follow-up route

An economic development workforce page should identify the occupations relevant to the project, define the geography and date of its data, explain training pathways, and connect employers with people who can investigate their hiring needs. Keep employment counts, job seekers, training participants, and potential recruits distinct.

“A skilled workforce” is a starting claim. A site selector still needs to know which skills, where they are found, and what the community can substantiate.

Imagine a manufacturer considering a location for a new operation. A regional employment chart may show people working in related occupations. That does not tell the company how many would consider its jobs, what shifts they could work, or what training the operation would require.

Your communications can make those questions easier to investigate without pretending to answer them all.

Start your EDO workforce page with the employer's occupations

Before collecting impressive regional totals, define the kind of project the page supports.

What work would employees do? Which occupations are relevant? Which requirements need an employer or workforce specialist to interpret?

Use recognizable job language beside the classifications in your data source. Have a knowledgeable partner check that the occupation choices actually fit the proposed work. A broad production category may hide important differences between roles.

If the page serves several industries, give each a clear route to relevant information. Keep a general community introduction short enough that it does not bury the specific evidence.

The site-selector communications checklist provides the wider context: workforce information sits alongside property, utility, logistics, and execution questions.

Explain what occupational employment data measures

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics FAQ describes OEWS as estimates of jobs in occupations and the wages paid to them. The program publishes estimates for states, metropolitan areas, and nonmetropolitan areas, among other levels.

Use those estimates to describe the occupational base and wage context in the reported geography. Record the occupation, reference period, area, measure, and source beside the number.

An estimate of jobs is not a list of individuals available to recruit. Do not relabel an employment count as “workers ready for your operation.”

BLS also explains that OEWS combines multiple survey panels and that this approach limits its usefulness for time-series analysis. Check its guidance before presenting changes across releases as a straightforward trend.

A modest table with accurate labels is more useful than a large total with an ambiguous promise.

Keep unemployment measures separate from project-specific recruits

BLS's Local Area Unemployment Statistics FAQ describes estimates of civilian labor force, employment, unemployment, and unemployment rates. Its unemployment definition generally concerns people without employment who are available for work and have recently looked for work, with a temporary-layoff exception.

Those measures describe labor-market conditions. They do not identify people with the specific skills, preferences, and circumstances required by a proposed employer.

Put the distinction in the surrounding explanation. A reader should know whether a number describes jobs, employed people, unemployed people, or participants in a particular program.

Avoid adding these categories into a single “available workforce” total. They answer different questions and may overlap in ways your page has not established.

Define the workforce geography before drawing a map

Name the area your data actually covers.

If an occupational estimate represents a metropolitan area, say so. Do not present it as the count inside your city's boundary. If you use several sources, check whether their geographic definitions are comparable.

A custom recruitment area needs its own explanation. Identify the locations included and the method used to define it. Do not treat a broad drive-time circle as proof that everyone inside it can or will commute to a particular shift.

Ask the workforce partner what additional work is needed to assess the project's likely recruitment area. Communicate that next step plainly.

A map should help the employer understand the geography, while the page text preserves the definition and source.

Show employers how local training pathways work

Pair the workforce data with current information from the training organizations involved.

For each relevant pathway, verify the program name, skills taught, enrollment requirements, schedule, and employer contact. Explain whether the organization offers an existing program, a possible customized service, or something still under discussion.

Keep graduates, current enrollment, training capacity, and future commitments separate. A graduation count does not establish how many people are currently seeking a particular job. A partner's willingness to discuss a program is not a guaranteed opening date or capacity.

A real training story can show how a skill is learned. Interview the people involved, verify the details, and connect the story to the program page. Avoid assigning an outcome to the story that nobody has measured.

Build a workforce evidence table your EDO can maintain

Use a short table to organize the page and its update responsibilities.

Assign someone to review each row and its underlying links. Keep the data reference period visible even when the page itself has just been updated.

Give site selectors a specific workforce follow-up route

End the page with a practical invitation to discuss the project.

Ask for the information your team needs to route the inquiry, such as the kinds of roles, broad timing, and general location requirements. Use the organization's approved process for confidential project details.

Explain who will respond and what the initial conversation can establish. Promise response times or a formal analysis only when the team has committed to them.

Before publishing, have your workforce partner review the numbers, labels, geography, and training statements. Then ask a colleague to explain what the page establishes and what still requires investigation.

That is the test of a credible workforce page: an employer can understand the evidence and find a useful next conversation.

If your community has good workforce information scattered across reports and partner pages, talk with Hallpass about bringing it together on your website.