Predictive Analytics Supporting Labor Market Success: A Career Explorer for Job Seekers and Workforce Professionals in Michigan

Authors

Christopher J. O'Leary, W.E. Upjohn Insitute for Employment ResearchFollow
Salomon Orellana, Dept. of Technology, Management, and Budget, Michigan Center for Data and AnalyticsFollow
Kevin Doyle, Dept. of Technology, Management, and Budget, Michigan Center for Data and AnalyticsFollow
Randall W. Eberts, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment ResearchFollow
Ben Damerow, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Amy Meyers, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment ResearchFollow
Kenneth J. Kline, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment ResearchFollow
Anna Wilcoxson, Dept. of Technology, Management, and Budget, Michigan Center for Data and AnalyticsFollow
Beth C. Truesdale, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment ResearchFollow
Scott Powell, Dept. of Technology, Management, and Budget, Michigan Center for Data and AnalyticsFollow

Upjohn Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3372-7527

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9711-5466

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0366-3390

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3205-2847

Series

Upjohn Institute working paper ; 23-391

**Published Version**

In Economic Development Quarterly 39(1): 6-23

DOI

10.17848/wp23-391

Issue Date

November 2023

Abstract

Career Explorer provides customized career exploration tools for workforce development staff and job seekers in Michigan. There are separate Career Explorer modules for mediated staff services and self-service by job seekers. The system was developed by the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics in collaboration with the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research and Michigan Works! Southwest. It was funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workforce Investment and the Schmidt Futures foundation’s Data for the American Dream (D4AD) project. In this paper, we describe specifications of the models behind the frontline-staff-mediated version of Career Explorer, which are based on program administrative data, applying data-science methods for predictive analytics. We also describe the self-service Career Explorer, which provides customized labor market information based on published Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Career Explorer became an active feature of Michigan’s online reemployment-services system in June 2021.

Sponsorship

U.S. Dept. of Labor Office of Workforce Investment and Schmidt Futures Foundation

Subject Areas

LABOR MARKET ISSUES; Dislocated workers; Job search; UNEMPLOYMENT, DISABILITY, and INCOME SUPPORT PROGRAMS; Unemployment insurance; WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT; Public training programs; WIA, JTPA, and CETA; On the job training; Job skills and standards