Workforce Investment Act: Employers Are Aware of, Using, and Satisfied with One-Stop Services, but More Data Could Help Labor Better Address Employers' Needs
Published: 2005-02-18T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: The economy of the United States is fueled by 8 million private sector businesses that employ 106 million of the nation's 137 million workers. Employers are seeking better ways to meet their workforce needs as they compete in the global economy. This report examines (1) the extent to which employers, including small businesses, are aware of and using the one-stop system; (2) the degree to which employers who use one-stop services report satisfaction and what factors cause employers not to use them; and (3) what Labor has done to support employer awareness and use of the workforce system and how Labor measures its success in meeting the needs of employers.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: While about half of all employers are aware of their local one-stops, awareness increases with employer size, with about half of small, two-thirds of medium, and three-quarters of large employers knowing about their local one-stops. Similarly, of all employers aware of the one-stops, about three-quarters of large employers are likely to use one-stop services, while approximately one-half of medium and one-quarter of small employers are likely to do so. Employers of all sizes primarily use one-stop services to help fill job vacancies. Overall, about three-quarters of employers who use one-stop services are satisfied with the services they receive. These employers are most satisfied with one-stop efforts to provide timely services and respond to their needs. In addition, most employers who have used one-stop services would likely use them again, and about one-third of employers who are aware of one-stop services, but have not used them, would consider using them in the future. Among employers who are aware of one-stop services, very few decline to use them because of concerns about the quality of services. Instead, many of these employers choose not to use one-stops because they rely on other resources to hire and train workers or do not have enough information about the services one-stops offer. Labor has initiatives to support employer awareness and use of the one-stop system but does not know the extent to which employers use the system. Labor has developed partnerships with businesses and industry to provide employers easier access to the resources of the one-stop system. To measure how the one-stop system is meeting the needs of employers, Labor requires states to collect information on employer satisfaction with the one-stop system, but not on employer use of the system. Labor's employer satisfaction measure provides a high-level indicator of whether employers are satisfied with the one-stop services they receive; it does not, however, provide enough information on the services employers use to help Labor manage its resources.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: The economy of the United States is fueled by 8 million private sector  businesses that employ 106 million of the nation’s 137 million workers.  While most of these businesses employ fewer than 50 workers, the  majority of workers are employed by larger businesses. Employers are  seeking better ways to meet their workforce needs as they compete in the  global economy. In 1998, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) created a  comprehensive workforce system, called the one-stop system, designed to  help both job seekers and employers. WIA requires states and localities to  bring together 17 federal programs and make their services available  through about 1,900 one-stops nationwide. The total budget for these  programs is about $15 billion in federal funding. The Department of Labor  (Labor) is responsible for assessing the effectiveness of Labor-funded  programs and providing guidance to states and localities on services  delivered through the one-stops. WIA also requires that states report  information to Labor on employer satisfaction with one-stop services.  However, little is known about how well the services provided by the one- stops are helping employers find the workers they need.
WIA increased the focus on the employer as a customer of the publicly  funded workforce system and requires that employers constitute a  majority of members on state and local workforce investment boards.  These boards develop policy and provide oversight for the one-stops. The  one-stops provide employers with services such as applicant screening,  skill assessment, and training. The publicly funded workforce system also  provides employers and job seekers with other resources, such as a  national, online job openings database—called America’s Job Bank—and  labor market information such as current wage rates.
Because of your interest in how well the workforce system is meeting the  workforce needs of all employers, both large and small, we examined   (1) the extent to which employers, including small businesses, are aware  of and using the one-stop system; (2) the degree to which employers who  use one-stop services report satisfaction and what factors cause  employers not to use them; and (3) what Labor has done to support  employer awareness and use of the workforce system and how Labor  measures its success in meeting the needs of employers.
To address these issues, we surveyed a nationally representative sample of  private sector employers, surveyed state and local workforce officials, and  visited four states and a total of eight one-stops within those states. For  the employer survey, we obtained a sample of 3,232 small, medium, and  large private sector employers from a nationwide database of businesses.  We surveyed employers between June and October 2004, and report on  their use of one-stop services during the 12 months prior to the period  when we surveyed them. We achieved a 54 percent response rate after  adjusting for cases that were ineligible for our study or whose eligibility  could not be determined. We interviewed some of those that did not  respond to our survey and found that their views did not differ  substantially from the views of those that responded to our survey.  Therefore, we are generalizing our survey results to all private sector  business establishments in the United States. For this report, we  considered individual business establishments with two or more workers  as single employers. A business establishment is the physical location of a  certain economic activity, for example, a factory, mine, store, or office. We  chose to survey personnel at business establishments rather than  corporate headquarters because they are more likely to be responsible for  local hiring and training practices, such as use of one-stops. We divided  these business establishments into size categories based on their number  of employees. (See table 1.)
Survey results that represent all private sector employers in the United  States are heavily influenced by the results for small businesses because  over 95 percent of all business establishments are small. However,  medium and large business establishments employ a majority of the  workforce, so we generally report the survey results for each employer  size category separately. To determine what information states and local  areas collect on services to employers, we surveyed all 50 states and   568 local workforce investment areas, and we received responses from all  50 states and 463 local areas (81.5 percent). We selected 4 states—Florida,  Michigan, Oklahoma, and Wyoming—based on their geographic dispersion  and the diversity of their employment growth rates. In each state we  visited 2 local areas—1 urban and 1 rural—and interviewed workforce  officials and local employers. We interviewed officials from the  Department of Labor, employer associations such as the U.S. Chamber of  Commerce, and others.
On January 27, 2005, we briefed your staff on the results of our work. This  report summarizes the information we shared with your staff and  transmits slides we used to brief your staff that day. (App. I contains these  slides.) We conducted our work between October 2003 and January   2005 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing  standards. Appendix II provides further details about our scope and  methodology.
subsections: section_title: Summary of Findings
paragraphs: While about half of all employers are aware of their local one-stops,  awareness increases with employer size, with about half of small, two- thirds of medium, and three-quarters of large employers knowing about  their local one-stops. Similarly, of all employers aware of the one-stops,  about three-quarters of large employers are likely to use one-stop services,  while approximately one-half of medium and one-quarter of small  employers are likely to do so. Employers of all sizes primarily use one-stop  services to help fill job vacancies. About three-quarters of employers that  used one-stops said that they are satisfied with the services they received,  and 83 percent would consider using them again in the future. Labor has  taken steps to support employer awareness and use of the system.  However, it lacks data on employer usage. Because Labor collects little  information on employers’ use of the one-stops, the extent to which these  services help employers is unknown, as is how these services could be  more effectively targeted to meet employers’ workforce needs.
In this report, we are making a recommendation to the Secretary of Labor  to require states to collect and report on employer use of the workforce  system. In its comments on a draft of this report, Labor agreed with our  recommendation and provided technical comments, which we included as  appropriate.
section_title: Large and Medium- Sized Employers Are More Likely than Small Employers to Know About and Use Their Local One-Stops and Other Resources of the Workforce System
paragraphs: While about half of all employers are aware of their local one-stops,  awareness levels increase with employer size, with about half of small,  two-thirds of medium, and three-quarters of large employers knowing  about their local one-stops. (See fig. 1.) Regardless of size, most employers  learn about one-stops through word of mouth in the private sector.  Moreover, large and medium employers are more likely than small  employers to learn about one-stops from a one-stop official or government  representatives. This may be because larger employers are more likely to  hire workers.
Large and medium employers who know about one-stops are more likely  than small employers to use their services. Of all employers aware of the  one-stops, approximately three-quarters of large employers are likely to  use one-stop services, while about one-half of medium and one-quarter of  small employers are likely to do so. As shown in figure 2, employers of all  sizes generally use one-stop services to help fill job vacancies through  posting job announcements and screening job applicants, with large  employers being three to four times more likely than small employers to  use these services. (See app. III for more information.) Small employers’  lower rate of usage could be associated with their lower likelihood of  hiring. Small employers are less likely than large and medium employers  to have hired an employee in the previous year. In addition, few employers  of any size are likely to access training services through one-stops. This is  consistent with what most employers we interviewed on our site visits told  us—they said they did the majority of their training internally.
Awareness and use of two other resources of the workforce system— America’s Job Bank and labor market information funded by Labor—also  vary by size of employer, with larger employers more likely than small  employers to use them. While 56 percent of large employers are aware of  the America’s Job Bank Web site, 17 percent of small employers are aware  of this resource. Likewise, large employers are about twice as likely as  small employers to be aware of labor market information funded by Labor  (74 percent versus 40 percent). In addition, large and medium employers  are significantly more likely than small employers to use both of these  resources. According to Labor, employers use the America’s Job Bank  Web site to find prospective employees, and they use labor market  information to learn about employment trends and wages. Several  employers we interviewed on our site visits said they used labor market  information on current wage rates in order to comply with wage laws or to  set compensation rates.
section_title: Most Employers Are Satisfied with One- Stop Services, and Few of Those Not Using Them Have Concerns about Service Quality
paragraphs: The vast majority of employers who use one-stop services are satisfied  with them; particularly, they express satisfaction with the timeliness of  services and the extent to which services address their needs. In addition,  most employers who use one-stop services would likely use them again,  and about one-third of employers who are aware of one-stop services but  do not use them would consider using them in the future. Among  employers who are aware of one-stop services, very few decline to use  them because of concerns about the quality of services. Instead, many of  these employers choose not to use one-stops because they rely on other  resources to hire and train workers or do not have enough information  about the services one-stops offer.
subsections: section_title: Most Employers Are Satisfied with One-Stop Services
paragraphs: Overall, about 78 percent of employers in the United States who have used  one-stops are satisfied with the services they received. These employers  are most satisfied with one-stop efforts to provide timely services and  respond to their needs. Most employers we interviewed on our site visits  also expressed satisfaction with one-stop services, and some pointed to  cost and time savings as the primary benefit of using one-stops. For  example, one employer said that because one-stop staff selected qualified  applicants using the company’s own screening criteria, the company saved  a lot of time. Furthermore, our survey showed that the majority of  employers who use one-stop services would consider using them in the  future, and a majority would also recommend one-stop services to another  businessperson. Eighty-three percent of employers who use one-stops said  they are willing to consider using one-stops in the future, and this  proportion does not vary much by employer size. Similarly, about three- quarters of employers who use one-stops are willing to recommend one- stop services to other businesses. Furthermore, about one-third of  employers who are aware of one-stop services but have not used them  would consider using them in the future.
section_title: Most Employers Not Using One-Stop Services Give Reasons Other than Concerns about Quality of Services
paragraphs: Of those employers who are aware of but not using one-stop services, very  few (3 percent), had concerns about service quality. The most common  reason employers did not use one-stop services was that they primarily  use other resources to hire and train workers—this was true for all  employer size categories. About 21 percent of employers chose not to use  one-stops because they lacked information about their services. In  addition, several employers we interviewed on our site visits said that  although they were aware of one-stops, they did not know about the  breadth of services they offered. Nearly all employers we interviewed on  our site visits thought that one-stops should try to increase general  awareness of one-stops among employers.
section_title: Labor Has Taken Steps to Support Employer Awareness and Use of the One- Stop System but Lacks Data on Employer Usage
paragraphs: Labor has initiatives to support employer awareness and use of the one- stop system but does not know the extent to which employers use the  system. Labor has developed partnerships with businesses and industry to  provide employers easier access to the resources of the one-stop system.  To measure how the one-stop system is meeting the needs of employers,  Labor requires states to collect information on employer satisfaction with  the one-stop system but not on employer use of the system. Labor’s  employer satisfaction measure provides a high-level indicator of whether  employers are satisfied with the one-stop services they receive.  It does  not, however, provide enough information on the services employers use  to help Labor manage its resources.
subsections: section_title: Labor Has Initiatives to Support Employer Awareness and Use of the One-Stop System
paragraphs: Labor has developed a number of initiatives to support employer  awareness and use of the one-stop system but has limited information  about the extent to which employers use the system. Labor established its  Partnerships for Jobs Initiative with 23 large, multistate employers,  including the Home Depot and Citigroup, to provide better access to the  resources of the approximately 1,900 one-stops nationwide. This initiative  helps employers learn about state and local workforce resources provided  through the one-stop system. Through its ongoing High-Growth Training  Initiative, Labor has also directed more than $92 million, as of June 2004,  to public-private partnerships in which growing industries work with  education and training providers to ensure that workers get the skills they  need to compete in growing fields like biotechnology and high-tech  manufacturing. In addition, Labor provided a $1.6 million grant to a seven- state consortium to develop model outreach strategies for marketing one- stop services to employers.
Labor has identified various ways to measure the success of these  initiatives, such as hiring rates and expansion of services. For example,  through its Partnership for Jobs initiative, the 23 national employers have  hired approximately 15,000 individuals through the one-stop system as of  June 2004. Through its High-Growth Job Training Initiative, Labor has  identified workforce solutions, such as expanding the pipeline of youth  entering high-growth industries and enhancing the capacity of educational  institutions to train students in industry-defined competencies.
section_title: Labor Requires Collection of Information on Overall Employer Satisfaction but Not on Employer Use of One-Stop Services
paragraphs: To measure the success of the one-stops in meeting employer workforce  needs, Labor requires states to report on employers’ overall satisfaction  with one-stop services, but not on their use of these services. Labor  requires that states conduct quarterly telephone surveys of employers to  obtain information on their overall satisfaction with the services provided  by the one-stops. Each state negotiates with Labor to set its own goal for  employer customer satisfaction. Because of the general nature of the  employer satisfaction measure, it has limited usefulness to Labor for  management of its one-stop system resources. Moreover, usage  information, such as the number of employers using one-stop services, is  not available to Labor because it does not require that states collect  information on employers’ use of one-stop services.
Labor recognizes that the satisfaction measure provides only general  information and that there is a need for more information than the  employer satisfaction measure provides. Labor’s Employment and  Training Administration (ETA) has proposed a new data collection and  reporting system called the ETA Management Information and  Longitudinal Evaluation (EMILE) to, among other things, obtain more  detailed information about employers’ use of one-stop services. Labor’s  proposed reporting system would require states to collect specific  employer-related information, such as the characteristics of the employers  and the services they use. However, Labor is in the process of responding  to public comments on the proposal and has not yet finalized its  implementation plans.
section_title: Many Local Areas Collect Information on Employer Use of One-Stop Services, but Most States Do Not Track This Type of Information
paragraphs: While many local areas track their own measures of how one-stops serve  employers, this information is not reported to most states or Labor. At  least half of the local areas track such measures as the number of  employers that use one-stop services, the type of services that employers  use, and the number of employers that hire one-stop job seekers. While  this type of information allows local areas to better manage their  resources to respond to the changing needs of their employer clients,  information on employer usage is not communicated to most states or  Labor.
Relatively few states require local workforce areas to report on employer  measures, such as the number of employers they serve and the number  that hire one-stop job seekers. For example, about one-third of all states  require local areas to report on the number of employers that use their  services, while 11 states track the type of one-stop services that employers  use. Because states are currently not required by Labor to collect this type  of information, it is unavailable at the state and federal level to help them  manage federal workforce resources.
section_title: Conclusions
paragraphs: The federal government currently invests in a workforce system with  multiple programs to help workers find jobs, and to help employers find  the workers they need.  We found that large numbers of employers know  about, use, and are satisfied with their local one-stops.  While Labor has  taken steps to support employer awareness and use of the system, it  collects little information on employers’ use of the workforce system.   Although many local areas and some states collect information on  employer use of the one-stop system to manage their resources, this  information is not reported to Labor. Collecting employer information  involves additional effort for states and local areas but enhances their  ability to manage their resources. Without this information on employer  use of the one-stop system, Labor cannot identify whether or not state and  local programs are responding to the needs of employers and what types  of services best meet employers’ workforce needs.  As a result, Labor does  not have the information necessary to identify areas where additional  employer assistance may be needed or to design a strategy for effectively  targeting limited workforce funds.
section_title: Recommendation for Executive Action
paragraphs: To ensure that Labor has a better understanding of the degree to which the  publicly funded workforce system meets employers’ needs, we  recommend that the Secretary of Labor require states to collect and report  on employer use of the one-stop system in addition to continuing to collect  general employer satisfaction information.
section_title: Agency Comments
paragraphs: We provided officials at the Department of Labor an opportunity to  comment on a draft of this report.  Formal comments appear in appendix  IV.
Labor agreed with our findings and recommendation that the Secretary of  Labor require states to collect and report on employer use of the one-stop  system to better understand the degree to which the system is meeting the  needs of employers.  Labor stated that one component of its proposed  revised reporting system would collect information on employers’ use of  one-stop services.  However, the agency continues to reconcile comments  on its proposed reporting system and to determine its feasibility.
As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce its contents  earlier, we plan no further distribution of this report until 30 days from its  date. At that time, we will send copies of this report to the Secretary of  Labor, appropriate congressional committees, and other interested parties.  In addition, the report will be available at no charge on GAO’s Web site at  http://www.gao.gov.
A list of related GAO products is included at the end of this report. If you  or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact me at  (202) 512-7215 or Joan Mahagan, Assistant Director, at (617) 788-0521. You  may also reach us by e-mail at nilsens@gao.gov or mahaganj@gao.gov.  Other contacts and staff acknowledgments are listed in appendix V.
section_title: Appendix I: Briefing Slides
subsections: section_title: Objectives
paragraphs: To what extent are employers, including small businesses, aware of and  using the one-stop system?
To what degree do employers who use one-stop services report  satisfaction, and what factors cause employers not to use them?
What has the Department of Labor (Labor) done to support employer  awareness and use of the workforce system and how does Labor  measure its success in meeting the needs of employers?
section_title: Methodology—Definitions
subsections: section_title: Employers are private sector business establishments with at least
paragraphs: two employees.
A business establishment is the physical location of a certain  economic activity, such as a factory, mine, store, or office.  For  example, the Home Depot is a large national business with multiple  store locations nationwide.  For our study, each store counted  separately as an employer.
We chose to survey personnel at individual business establishments  rather than corporate headquarters because these employers are  more likely than headquarters staff to be responsible for local hiring  and training practices, such as use of one-stops.
We defined the size of employers by their number of employees:  small: 2-49, medium: 50-499, and large: 500 or more.
section_title: Methodology—Definitions
subsections: section_title: We focused on
paragraphs: one-stop centers: all services provided to employers through  one-stop career centers, including services such as applicant  screening, skills assessment, and training;  America’s Job Bank (AJB): an employment Web site; and  labor market information funded by Labor, such as current wage  rates.
section_title: Methodology—Surveys
subsections: section_title: For our employer survey, we obtained a sample of 3,232 small, medium, and
paragraphs: large private sector employers from a nationwide database of businesses  and generalized our survey results to all private sector business  establishments in the United States.
We achieved a 54 percent response rate after adjusting for cases that  were ineligible for our study or whose eligibility could not be  determined.
We interviewed some of those that did not respond to our survey and  found that their views did not differ substantially from the views of  those that responded to our survey.
We surveyed employers between June and October 2004.  We report on  their use of one-stop services during the 12 months prior to the period  when we surveyed them.
For more details about our survey methods and the limitations to the  survey, see appendix II.
section_title: Methodology—Surveys
subsections: section_title: We surveyed states and local workforce investment areas about
paragraphs: their collection of information on services to employers.
We received responses from all 50 states and 463 of the 568 local  workforce investment areas (81.5 percent).
section_title: Methodology—Site Visits
subsections: section_title: We visited four states, based on diverse geography and varying
paragraphs: employment growth rates: Florida, Michigan, Oklahoma, and  Wyoming.
In each state, we visited urban and rural areas and interviewed  workforce officials and employers of various size that had either  used or not used their local one-stops.
We interviewed Labor officials about their efforts to support  employer awareness and use of the workforce system and reviewed  related documentation.
We interviewed representatives from employer associations, such as  the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others.
section_title: Summary of Findings
subsections: section_title: While about half of all employers are aware of their local one-stops,
paragraphs: awareness and use increases with employer size.  Of all employers  aware of the one-stops, about one-quarter of small employers are  likely to use one-stop services, while approximately one-half of  medium and three-quarters of large employers are likely to do so.
About three-quarters of employers that used one-stops said that they  are satisfied with the services they received, and 83 percent would  consider using them again in the future.
Labor has taken steps to support employer awareness and use of the  system. However, it lacks data on employer usage. Because Labor  collects little information on employers' use of the one-stops, the  extent to which these services help employers is unknown.
section_title: Background
subsections: section_title: Background (cont.)
subsections: section_title: Large and medium employers are more likely than small employers to be aware of and using one-stops.
subsections: section_title: Employers mostly use one-stops for hiring services rather than training, and large and medium employers are more likely to use hiring services.
paragraphs: errors for estimates presented on this page do not exceed 6 percentage points.
section_title: Large and medium employers are more likely than small employers to know about and use America’s Job Bank.
section_title: Large employers are more likely than small employers to know about and use labor market information.
section_title: The vast majority of employers using one-stop services, regardless of size, are satisfied with them.
subsections: section_title: Employers are most satisfied with one-stops’ timeliness and responsiveness to their needs.
section_title: Most employers who have used one-stop services would consider using them again.
subsections: section_title: Most employers not using one-stop services use other resources or do not know enough about services; few are concerned about quality of services.
subsections: section_title: Primary reason business establishments aware of one-stops did not use them
paragraphs: (in percentages)
section_title: Labor has taken steps to support employer awareness and use of the system, but lacks data on employer usage.
subsections: section_title: Labor has initiatives to support employer awareness and use of the
paragraphs: one-stop system.
Labor requires states to collect information on overall employer satisfaction with one-stop services, but not on employer use of one- stop services.
Many local areas collect information on employer use of one-stop  services, but most states do not track this type of information.
section_title: Labor has initiatives to support employer awareness and use of the one-stop system.
subsections: section_title: Labor does not require states to report on employer use of the workforce system.
paragraphs: Labor requires states to report on employer satisfaction with  one-stop services, but not on their use of these services.
The general employer satisfaction measure has limited  usefulness as a management tool because it lacks detailed  information about employers and the services they use.
Labor has proposed a new data collection and reporting system,  called the ETA Management Information and Longitudinal  Evaluation (EMILE), which would, among other things, provide  more detailed information about employers’ use of one-stop  services.
Implementation of the EMILE system has been delayed as Labor  responds to public comments on its proposal.
section_title: Many local areas collect information on employer use of one-stop services, but most states do not track this type of information.
paragraphs: At least half of all local areas track some information on  employers, such as the number of employers that use one-stop  services, the number that hire one-stop jobseekers, and the  types of one-stop services they use.
Currently, about one-third of states require local workforce  areas to report on the number of employers that use their  services, while 11 states track the type of services that  employers use.
section_title: At least half of all local workforce areas track employer information.
paragraphs: Number of employers that use one-stop services Number of employers that hire one-stop job seekers Type of one-stop services that employers use Number of employers that repeatedly use one-stop services Characteristics of employers (size, industry sector, etc.)
section_title: Conclusions
subsections: section_title: The federal government currently invests in a workforce system with multiple
paragraphs: programs to help workers find jobs, and to help employers find the workers they  need.
We found that about half of all employers are aware of their local one-stops, and large  and medium-sized employers are more likely than small employers to use one-stop  services.
The vast majority of employers that use the one-stops report satisfaction with the  services they receive, and the most common reasons employers aware of one-stops  do not use them is because they use other resources to hire workers or do not know  enough about one-stop services.
Although most local areas collect information on employer use of the one-stop  system to manage their resources, this information is not reported to Labor.
Without this information on employer use of the one-stop system, Labor cannot  identify whether or not state and local programs are responding to the needs of  employers and what types of services best meet employers’ workforce needs.
As a result, Labor does not have the information necessary to identify areas where  additional employer assistance may be needed or to design a strategy for effectively  targeting limited workforce funds.
section_title: Recommendation
paragraphs: To ensure that Labor has a better understanding of the degree  to which the publicly funded workforce system meets  employers’ needs, we recommend that the Secretary of Labor  require states to collect and report on employer use of the  workforce system in addition to continuing to collect general  employer satisfaction information.
section_title: Appendix II: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
paragraphs: We examined (1) the extent to which employers, including small  businesses, are aware of and using the one-stop system; (2) the degree to  which employers who use one-stop services report satisfaction and what  factors cause employers not to use them; and (3) what Labor has done to  support employer awareness and use of the workforce system and how  Labor measures its success in meeting the needs of employers. To address  these questions, we surveyed a nationally representative sample of private  sector employers, surveyed states and local areas, interviewed officials  from the Department of Labor and employer associations, reviewed  relevant studies, and visited four states and two local areas within each  state.
subsections: section_title: Employer Survey
paragraphs: To determine the extent to which employers are aware of and using the  workforce system and their satisfaction with the one-stop services they  received, we surveyed a nationally representative sample of employers.  We developed a questionnaire and contracted with Opinion Research  Corporation, a national public opinion research firm, to conduct a  telephone survey of a stratified random sample of all sizes of private  sector business establishments in the United States. We divided these  business establishments into groups depending on their number of  employees (small: 2-49 employees, medium: 50-499 employees, and large:  500 or more employees). Before calling began, an independent reviewer  within GAO reviewed the questionnaire, and we pretested the survey with  two businesses.
Opinion Research Corporation attempted to contact 3,232 business  establishments between July and October 2004 and completed   1,356 interviews. The overall response rate to the survey was 54 percent  after taking into account out-of-scope cases and cases whose eligibility  could not be determined. The response rate for each employer size  category is as follows: small and unknowns, 50 percent; medium,   53 percent; and large, 60 percent. Response rates were calculated using the  American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) response  rate three method of calculation. Although we do not know the views of all  the remaining business establishments that did not respond to our survey,  we did some limited interviewing and found that their views did not differ  substantially from the views of those that responded to our survey. We  attempted to contact 183 of these nonrespondents and completed a short  interview with 27 of them.
We purchased the sample from infoUSA, a national provider of business  addresses and phone numbers. InfoUSA’s database contained  approximately 11.3 million relevant business establishments. We  conducted routine steps, such as document review and interviews with  officials, to examine the reliability of the infoUSA data for our purposes.  To provide us with the sample, infoUSA conducted a stratified random  sample selection process that we specified. InfoUSA completed this  process in two phases. This process allowed for a sample of all sizes of  private sector business establishments in the United States. We forwarded  contact information for 3,232 of these sampled business establishments to  Opinion Research Corporation for the survey. (See table 2.)
We chose to survey business establishments (as opposed to corporate  headquarters) because personnel at the establishments are more likely  than headquarters staff to be responsible for their business’ local hiring  and training practices, such as use of one-stops. We used the Bureau of  Labor Statistics (BLS) definition of business establishment: the physical  location of a certain economic activity, for example, a factory, mine, store,  or office. To qualify for inclusion in our sample, the establishment must  have had at least two or more employees and must also have been engaged  in a commercial enterprise. Using four-digit Standard Industrial  Classification (SIC) code designations, we excluded religious,  governmental, and academic institutions from the sample because they are  not primarily engaged in commercial enterprise. We noted that religious  organizations that have a primary business as a nonprofit enterprise (such  as a social service provider) would be identified as such on the basis of the  SIC code associated with the listing. We noted that the schools and  universities were classified as public sector for some of Labor’s BLS  employment reports and decided to use this approach for our employer  sample. We excluded single-employee businesses, assuming they have not  hired additional employees.
In addition to survey nonresponse, the practical difficulties of conducting  any survey may introduce other types of errors, commonly referred to as  nonsampling errors. For example, differences in how a particular question  is interpreted, the sources of information available to respondents in  answering a question, or the types of people who do not respond can  introduce unwanted bias into the survey results. We included steps in the  development of the survey, the collection of data, and the editing and  analysis of data for the purpose of minimizing such nonsampling error. For  example, in cases where an employer gave an answer other than the  choices provided, we reviewed, verified, and then categorized each  answer. Another type of nonsampling error that exists in this survey is  coverage error. The infoUSA listing was used as a proxy listing for private  sector business establishments. We are aware that coverage error exists in  this database but we cannot quantify the amount of this error.
section_title: State and Local Area Surveys
paragraphs: To determine what information states and local areas collect on services  to employers, we surveyed all 50 states and all 568 local workforce  investment areas. We conducted both surveys using the Internet. We  received responses from all 50 states and 463 local areas (81.5 percent).  Because these were not sample surveys, there are no sampling errors.  However, the practical difficulties of conducting any survey may introduce  nonsampling errors. We took steps in the development of the  questionnaires, the data collection, and data analysis to minimize these  nonsampling errors. For example, we pretested the questionnaires to  ensure that questions were clear and understandable. In that these were  Web-based surveys whereby respondents entered their responses directly  into our database, there was little possibility of data entry error. In  addition, we verified that the computer programs used to analyze the data  were written correctly.
section_title: Site Visits
paragraphs: We selected four states—Florida, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Wyoming— and traveled to at least two local areas in each of these states. We selected  these states based on their geographic dispersion and the diversity of their  employment growth rates. We chose two states that had relatively high  employment growth rates (Florida and Wyoming) and two states that had  relatively high employment loss rates (Oklahoma and Michigan). In each  state we visited two local areas, one urban and one rural, and interviewed  workforce officials and local employers. We interviewed local employers  of various sizes based on their number of employees: small (2-49), medium  (50-499), and large (500 or more). See table 3 for a list of the states and  local areas in our study.
Information that we gathered on our site visits represents only the  conditions present in the local areas at the time of our site visits, from May  2004 through August 2004. Furthermore, our fieldwork focused on in- depth analysis of only a few selected states and local areas or sites. On the  basis of our site visit information, we cannot generalize our findings  beyond the local areas we visited.
section_title: Appendix III: Additional Employer Survey Data
paragraphs: Appendix III: Additional Employer Survey  Data Obtain information on employee supports  (e.g., child care or transportation)
Obtain financial information (e.g., loans,  grants, or tax benefits)
section_title: Appendix IV: Comments from the Department of Labor
section_title: Appendix V: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments
subsections: section_title: GAO Contacts
section_title: Staff Acknowledgments
paragraphs: Susan Pachikara and Paul Schearf made significant contributions to this  report in all aspects of the work, and Chris Moriarity and Walter Vance  provided methodological assistance throughout the assignment.  In  addition, Stefanie Bzdusek, Cathy Hurley, and Art James contributed to  the administration of our employer survey, and Nitin Rao and Blake  Walters assisted in the data collection and analysis phase of this  assignment. Jessica Botsford and Richard Burkard provided legal support.
section_title: Related GAO Products
paragraphs: Workforce Investment Act: Labor Has Taken Several Actions to Facilitate  Access to One-Stops for Persons with Disabilities, but These Efforts May  Not Be Sufficient. GAO-05-54. Washington, D.C.: December 14, 2004  Public Community Colleges and Technical Schools: Most Schools Use  Both Credit and Noncredit Programs for Workforce Development.  GAO-05-4. Washington, D.C.:  October 18, 2004  Workforce Investment Act: States and Local Areas Have Developed  Strategies to Assess Performance, but Labor Could Do More to Help.  GAO-04-657. Washington, D.C.: June 1, 2004.
Workforce Investment Act: One-Stop Centers Implemented Strategies to  Strengthen Services and Partnerships, but More Research and  Information Sharing Is Needed. GAO-03-725 and related testimony  GAO-03-884T. Washington, D.C.: June 18, 2003.
Workforce Training: Employed Worker Programs Focus on Business  Needs, but Revised Performance Measures Could Improve Access for  Some Workers. GAO-03-353. Washington, D.C.: February 14, 2003.
Older Workers: Employment Assistance Focuses on Subsidized Jobs and  Job Search, but Revised Performance Measures Could Improve Access to  Other Services. GAO-03-350. Washington, D.C.: January 24, 2003.
Workforce Investment Act: States and Localities Increasingly Coordinate  Services for TANF Clients, but Better Information Needed on Effective  Approaches. GAO-02-696. Washington, D.C.: July 3, 2002  Workforce Investment Act: Improvements Needed in Performance  Measures to Provide a More Accurate Picture of WIA’s Effectiveness.  GAO-02-275. Washington, D.C.: February 1, 2002.
Workforce Investment Act: Better Guidance Needed to Address Concerns  over New Requirements. GAO-02-72 and related testimony GAO-02-94T.    Washington, D.C.: October 4, 2001.