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Workforce Investment Act: Results for Survey of Workforce Investment Boards (GAO-14-20SP, December 2013), an E-supplement to GAO-14-19 [Reissued on December 6, 2013]

GAO-14-20SP Published: Dec 02, 2013. Publicly Released: Dec 06, 2013.
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Highlights

This document is an E-supplement to GAO-14-19. It presents the results of GAO's web-based survey of a nationally representative sample of workforce investment boards about how the local workforce areas they oversee guided Workforce Investment Act Adult and Dislocated Worker participants toward training in calendar year 2012.

The survey asks questions about (1) which sources of labor market information local areas used to identify occupations that are in demand, and the sources they found most useful; (2) how they guided participants toward training, and the challenges they faced in doing so; and (3) whether employers in their areas have had difficulty filling certain jobs, and if so, the challenges they have faced in helping employers fill those jobs. The survey was administered to executive directors or other knowledgeable representatives of 200 workforce investment boards. We selected a stratified random probability sample from the Department of Labor's list of all 578 workforce investment boards nationwide as of November 2012. We stratified the population into 10 groups based on U.S. Census Bureau regions to ensure geographic distribution. We obtained responses from 148 workforce investment boards, for a 74 percent unweighted response rate. This e-supplement presents the survey estimates and 95 percent confidence intervals and also includes the questions asked. Responses to open-ended questions requiring a narrative response are not included in this document.

We administered the survey from March 2013 to April 2013 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. A more detailed discussion of our objectives, scope, methodology, and agency comments on the draft report are contained in our report entitled Workforce Investment Act: Local Areas Face Challenges Helping Employers Fill Some Types of Skilled Jobs, GAO-14-19 (Washington, D.C.: December 2013).

Reissued on December 6, 2013

Supplemental Material

Background

This e-supplement replaces the one posted on December 2, 2013 because part of the title was missing. The revised title is: Workforce Investment Act: Results for Survey of Workforce Investment Boards (GAO-14-20SP, December 2013), an E-Supplement to GAO-14-19.

This e-supplement presents the results of GAO's web-based survey of a nationally representative sample of workforce investment boards about how the local workforce areas they oversee guided Workforce Investment Act Adult and Dislocated Worker participants toward training in calendar year 2012. The survey asks questions about (1) which sources of labor market information local areas used to identify occupations that are in demand, and the sources they found most useful; (2) how they guided participants toward training, and the challenges they faced in doing so; and (3) whether employers in their areas have had difficulty filling certain jobs, and if so, the challenges they have faced in helping employers fill those jobs.

The survey was administered to executive directors or other knowledgeable representatives of 200 workforce investment boards. We selected a stratified random probability sample from the Department of Labor's list of all 578 workforce investment boards nationwide as of November 2012. We stratified the population into 10 groups based on U.S. Census Bureau regions to ensure geographic distribution. We obtained responses from 148 workforce investment boards, for a 74 percent unweighted response rate. This e-supplement presents the survey estimates and 95 percent confidence intervals and also includes the questions asked. Responses to open-ended questions requiring a narrative response are not included in this document.

We administered the survey from March 2013 to April 2013 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. A more detailed discussion of our objectives, scope, methodology, and agency comments on the draft report are contained in our report entitled Workforce Investment Act: Local Areas Face Challenges Helping Employers Fill Some Types of Skilled Jobs, GAO-14-19 (Washington, D.C.: December 2013).

Contents

Page Name Questionnaire Results
Introduction View View
Part I: Characteristics of your local workforce area View View
Part II: Local initiatives for identifying available jobs and potential high-growth occupations View View
Part III: Other sources for identifying available jobs View View
Part IV: Other sources for identifying potential high-growth occupations View View
Information from U.S. Department of Labor View View
Information from state labor market information office View View
Part V: Comparison of local initiatives and other sources of information View View
Part VI: Approaches for guiding participants toward training View View
Part VII: Challenges in guiding participants toward training View View
Part VIII: Local economic conditions View View
Part IX: Contact information View View
Submit your responses to GAO View View

 

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Career planningEducationEmployee trainingEmployment assistance programsFederal aid to localitiesLabor forceLabor statisticsLocally administered programsOccupational surveysProfessional certificationProgram evaluationSurveysTraining utilizationVocational education