The Johnston Economic Development Corporation will be working with Iowa Workforce Development’s Regional Research Bureau to complete a Laborshed employment study for the City of Johnston. This study, which is being done in cooperation with the communities of Grimes and Urbandale, will examine the labor force from which area employers draw their employees, and is based upon commuting patterns into the area. The study will assist existing and potential businesses to better understand the size and characteristics of the area’s labor force regardless of political boundaries.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We encourage everyone in our area to participate in the upcoming research activities. As noted below, a survey letter will be distributed to area businesses, and a telephone survey will soon be underway. Please encourage your neighbors and employees to participate if they receive a letter or a survey telephone call. Thank you for your assistance.
The Laborshed boundary is based on the place of residence of individuals commuting into our area for employment. For the success of this study, Iowa Workforce Development we will be sending letters to employers in the City of Johnston asking that they provide aggregate counts of their employees’ residential ZIP codes. This reporting will give us an understanding of where each community’s workforce resides.
Once that Laborshed area is determined, a confidential household telephone survey will be conducted in those identified areas. The questions will cover topics such as: employment status, current and desired wages, current and desired benefits, education level, and type of occupation. Survey results will be applied to demographic data to determine the size of our area labor force as well as various labor force characteristics. Iowa Workforce Development will not be asking survey takers any identifiable information such as: name, social security number, or date of birth.
The results for each county and regional Laborshed analysis can be found at https://www.iowaworkforcedevelopment.gov/laborshed-studies. If you have any questions about the Laborshed workforce project, please contact Katie Lippold at 515-281-3035 or Johnston Economic Development at 515-564-6547. Thank you for your support and participation.