Located in:
- II. Strategic Elements
The Unified or Combined State Plan must include a Strategic Planning Elements section that analyzes the State’s current economic environment and identifies the State’s overall vision for its workforce development system. The required elements in this section allow the State to develop data-driven goals for preparing an educated and skilled workforce and to identify successful strategies for aligning workforce development programs. Unless otherwise noted, all Strategic Planning Elements apply to Combined State Plan partner programs included in the plan as well as to core programs.
- a. Economic, Workforce, and Workforce Development Activities Analysis
The Unified or Combined State Plan must include an analysis of the economic conditions, economic development strategies, and labor market in which the State’s workforce system and programs will operate.
- a. Economic, Workforce, and Workforce Development Activities Analysis
II. a. 1. B. Workforce Analysis (B.I - B.IV)
The Unified or Combined State Plan must include an analysis of the current workforce, including individuals with barriers to employment, as defined in section 3 of WIOA.* This population must include individuals with disabilities among other groups** in the State and across regions identified by the State. This includes: Individuals with barriers to employment include displaced homemakers; low-income individuals; Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians; individuals with disabilities, including youth who are individuals with disabilities; older individuals; ex-offenders; homeless individuals, or homeless children and youths; youth who are in or have aged out of the foster care system; individuals who are English language learners, individuals who have low levels of literacy, and individuals facing substantial cultural barriers; farmworkers (as defined at section 167(i) of WIOA and Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 35-14); individuals within 2 years of exhausting lifetime eligibility under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program; single parents (including single pregnant women); and long-term unemployed individuals. ** Veterans, unemployed workers, and youth, and others that the State may identify.
i. Employment and Unemployment
Provide an analysis of current employment and unemployment data, including labor force participation rates, and trends in the State.
ii. Labor Market Trends
Provide an analysis of key labor market trends, including across existing industries and occupations.iii. Education and Skill Levels of the Workforce
Provide an analysis of the educational and skill levels of the workforce.
iv. Skill Gaps
Describe apparent ‘skill gaps’.
Current Narrative:
Indiana’s unemployment rate dropped from a 10-year peak of 10.3% in 2009, to 6.0% annually in 2014. The rate continues to fall in 2015. Indiana’s unemployment rate has remained below the national average in recent months and throughout much of the 2014 program year. Over the last two and a half years, Indiana has seen growth in private sector employment of over 120,000. During the summer of 2014, Indiana also reached a new peak in private sector employment levels, not seen since early 2000. However, there are signs of misalignment between the educational attainment levels of the unemployed and current employer demand for evolving skills.
Indiana has reviewed the national employment projections data showing that in the 2020 the educational levels for employment will be broken down as follows: 35% H.S. diploma or less, 30% some college/AA degree, and 35% BA or higher. (See Recovery 2020, Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, 2013; and Complete College America). In reviewing Indiana data, Indiana is following the similar trends. For high wage, high demand jobs, Indiana data is showing that in 2020 the educational levels for employment will be broken down as follows: 33.8% H.S. diploma or less, 30.7% some college/AA degree and 35.7% BA or higher. For all occupations, it is broken down as follows: 50.8% H.S. diploma or less, 24.2% some college/AA degree and 22.4% BA or higher. Indiana, through a collaborative effort of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, the Indiana Commission on Higher Education and Ivy Tech Community College, is in the process of conducting a thorough and detailed gap analysis pursuant to recent legislation. The gap analysis will identify any gaps or imbalances between high school career and technical education courses and community college certification courses offered in the region and the workforce needs and training and education needs in the region.
Additionally, in Indiana, there are 1.2 million young people ages 16-29, whom account for roughly 1/3 of the working population. Since the great recession, unemployment among this age group has been higher than the average population. Unfortunately, Indiana loses a large percentage of its youth with postsecondary credentials and degrees to surrounding states and California. Yet, simultaneously and as stated above, there are more than one million jobs that will be available in the next 10 years, and there is a misalignment of educational training programs to the skills demanded by employers.
A thorough analysis of Indiana’s economy and workforce can be found at: http://www.hoosierdata.in.gov/docs/annual_econ_analysis/INDIANA%20ECONOMIC%20ANALYSIS%20REPORT%20Program%20Year%202014%20w%20Appendices.pdf.
For a Vocational Rehabilitation specific analysis, see Vocational Rehabilitation Section j at pages 98-100 below.