Defining the Available Labor Pool: The Kansas Labor Force Survey

• Published in: Economic development quarterly Vol. 17; no. 3; pp. 220 - 239
• Main Authors: Aistrup, Joseph A., Zollinger, Brett, Walker, Michael S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks SAGE Publications 01-08-2003; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Business; Civilians; Economic development; Economics; Employment; Kansas; Labor force; Labour force; Polls & surveys; Surveys; U.S.A; Wages; Workforce; employment patterns; civilian labor force; workforce; business site location; labor force; labor shed
• ISSN: 0891-2424; 1552-3543
• DOI: 10.1177/0891242403255510

One of the key questions for employers seeking to locate or expand their operations is whether a prospective community has an available and affordable labor force with the prerequisite skills. This study outlines an applied theoretical perspective and a set of survey methods to move beyond the inherent limitations of unemployment rates and other census data used to infer availability and prevailing wage rates of a community's workforce. Applying these methods to Kansas in 2001, the authors found more than 7% of Kansans of working age, or about 110,000 potential workers, were unemployed in some manner but were available for job opportunities. Another 12.6% of the Kansas labor force, or just more than 159,000 people, were employed (full- and part-time) and were actively seeking new employment opportunities. A total of 43.7% of the Kansas labor force, or about 651,000 people, would consider a new employment opportunity given the right circumstances.