TEGL 04-25 (Accessible PDF).pdf

ETA Advisory File Text

EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION ADVISORY SYSTEM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Washington D.C. 20210 CLASSIFICATION Workforce Information CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL DNPTTA Workforce Information DATE August 28 2025 RESCISSIONS None EXPIRATION DATE Continuing ADVISORY TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT GUIDANCE LETTER NO. 04-25 TO STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES STATE WORKFORCE ADMINISTRATORS STATE LABOR COMMISSIONERS STATE AND LOCAL WORKFORCE BOARD CHAIRS AND DIRECTORS STATE WORKFORCE LIAISONS STATE LABOR MARKET INFORMATION WORKFORCE INFORMATION OR RESEARCH DIRECTORS FROM LORI FRAZIER BEARDEN s Acting Assistant Secretary SUBJECT Program Year 2025 Workforce and Labor Market Information Grants to States Program Guidance and Deliverables 1.Purpose. To provide program guidance for the development management and delivery of workforce and labor market information WLMI funded through the Workforce and Labor Market Information Grants to States WIGS . 2.Action Requested. Per the grant agreement during the course of the year grantees must provide the deliverables according to the requirements and timeframes outlined in Attachment 1. Refer to Training and Employment Guidance Letter TEGL 11-24 for grant application submission requirements for Program Year PY 2025 WIGS funding. 3.Summary and Background. a.Summary This guidance published annually specifies grant requirements for WIGS which are funded by the Employment and Training Administration ETA . b.Background State Workforce Agencies use WIGS to develop and disseminate essential state and local WLMI for job seekers employers educators economic developers and others. This TEGL describes required encouraged and other allowable activities and explains the rationale for ETA policies and requirements. During times of economic changes the data and information produced by the WIGS is particularly important. 2 4. Required Encouraged and Other Allowable Activities. State Workforce Agencies use WIGS to develop and disseminate essential state and local WLMI for a range of customer groups 1 job seekers 2 businesses employers 3 workforce and labor market intermediaries such as employment school and career counselors and case managers at American Job Centers AJCs who help individuals find a job or make career decisions or engage businesses seeking skilled workers 4 program and service planners at educational institutions and community-based organizations 5 policy makers including state and local workforce development boards WDBs 6 partners such as economic development entities and human resource professionals and 7 other customers including recipients of workforce development grants researchers commercial data providers and the media. Grantees have considerable flexibility to meet customer needs but must consult their customers and prepare several types of products. Required products. Grantees must populate and maintain a database see sub-section a. below produce public products see sub-section b. below ensure staff are adequately trained see sub-section c. below and produce a report describing accomplishments pertaining to this TEGL sub-section d. below . If the grantee does not produce any of the four required deliverables it must negotiate an extension and a revised schedule with the appropriate ETA regional office. a. Workforce Information Database WID . Please ensure you are compliant with WID 3.0. More information regarding WID 3.0 can be found here https widcenter.org wid-3- 0-request-for-comment . Accurate and reliable data are a cornerstone of the nation s workforce development system. The WID includes the most important workforce-related data elements and defines them consistently ensuring comparability across jurisdictions. The Analyst Resource Center ARC an ETA-funded grantee which supports consistent LMI data collection provides and maintains information on the structure and content of the WID at www.widcenter.org structure-2 including background for this state requirement at www.widcenter.org why-a-standard-structure . States must use WIGS funds to populate maintain and update the WID. States must also use WIGS funds to provide related staff training necessary to meet the WID requirements. Grantees must implement and maintain the most current version of WID and populate all ARC-designated core tables following ARC procedures. The ARC website www.widcenter.org document all-core-tables describes all required data elements and helps grantees obtain maximum benefit from the WID. ETA uses the WID as an input to CareerOneStop www.careeronestop.org an ETA-funded website providing information for job seekers labor market intermediaries employers and workforce professionals. b. State and local industry and occupational employment projections. Please note ETA is no longer requiring states to produce two-year occupational employment projections. Publishing either the two-year or the mid-term occupational employment projections are optional for states. The Projections Managing Partnership PMP Projections Suite 3 software will still support the publication of the two-year and mid-term occupational employment projections for those states who choose to publish the two-year or mid-term occupational employment projections. The ten-year statewide and the ten-year sub-state occupational employment projections requirements and due dates are described in Attachment I. States who are unable to produce the required projections must report this to their ETA regional office before the respective submittal deadlines. ETA worked closely with the PMP state subject-matter experts for projections and with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics BLS to decide that these changes met both the states and their customers needs while giving flexibility to states who choose to continue to publish two-year and or mid-term occupational projections. Occupational employment projections are one of the most frequently requested types of labor market information. Projections are used to identify in-demand industries and occupations for career guidance to plan employment education and training and economic development programs as supporting documentation to apply for federal grants and for many other purposes. Individual jobseekers and policy makers are particularly interested in projections during times of economic changes. BLS funds national employment projections but WIGS funds the state and local sub-state projections produced by the states with assistance from ETA and BLS. Grantees must use the methodology software and guidelines specified by the state-led PMP to produce all projections. Additionally grantees must use the Local Employment and Wage Information System LEWIS to provide the staffing patterns for sub-state projections. To meet these requirements grantees may use WIGS funds to obtain training provided by the PMP see https www.projectionstraining.com ARC see www.widcenter.org LEWIS https lewissupport.com and other LMI-related sources. Finally state occupational projections must be posted on the PMP website https projectionscentral.org as well as on the state LMI website to maximize public awareness and availability for use. c. Employee development and LMI training for service delivery. In accordance with section 3 c 4 of the Wagner-Peyser Act 29 U.S.C. 49b c 4 as amended by section 303 b 2 of WIOA Pub. Law 113-128 July 22 2014 states must provide employee development and LMI training to ensure quality service delivery. In an effort to promote robust use of LMI ETA encourages state LMI offices to provide training to State Workforce Agency staff local AJCs WDBs vocational rehabilitation providers providers of services to veterans returning to the civilian workforce providers assisting citizens re-entering the workforce after incarceration Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training SNAP E T providers and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families TANF service providers. Many local boards programs and service providers are engaged in data analysis to understand the local labor market. Training can include the analysis of the labor market by specific variables such as employment earnings and career progression. The provision of LMI training will help support a one- 4 stop delivery system that provides high quality and professional services to job seekers and businesses. Outreach and training are especially critical as state labor markets experience economic changes. ETA encourages LMI directors and their staff to actively seek opportunities to provide information and training to the local workforce system employers jobseekers AJCs and those seeking career advice. d. Annual Performance Report. Grantees must submit a WIGS Annual Performance Report to their ETA regional office that summarizes all grantee activities including the core deliverables and activities shown below in the order indicated by October 1 each year. i. Workforce Information Database WID ii. Industry and occupational employment projections iii. LMI training for service delivery and Whether a core or optional activity each summary must identify i. A description of the activity ii. How customer consultation is used in each activity iii. Which customer needs are met by each activity and iv. If the activity supports collaborations or leveraged funding. Grantees are also asked to make any recommendations or suggestions to their ETA regional office for improving the use of WIGS funding. Please note The WIGS Annual Performance Report must be in a Section 508-compliant accessible PDF format. See Required Methods Section d. Publication requirement below for more information on 508 compliance. Required Methods. Grantees have considerable flexibility in conducting their work but must meet certain methodological standards in collaborating with partners consulting with customers collecting data disseminating statistics maintaining data integrity confidentiality and security and posting their products on the Internet. a. Partnerships. To best serve their customers and optimize federal investments grantees should establish and maintain partnerships that grantees consider relevant and mutually beneficial. Such partnerships help to increase resources improve program outcomes and help WLMI data influence planning and program decisions. Examples of partnerships to develop may include schools K-12 2-year colleges universities career technical education programs state-wide and local WDB and economic development boards any eligible training provider SNAP E T agencies TANF agencies veteran-serving organizations and other government agencies in your states and regions that use LMI or can use LMI in their planning and decision-making. b. Customer consultation. One of the key tenets of WIOA is meeting the needs of businesses and jobseekers. Further WIOA requires states to consult with customers 5 including employers WDBs core partner programs such as education agencies participants students and others about the relevance of the WLMI collected and disseminated. WIGS grantees must consult with customers to ensure the workforce system provides relevant and integrated information to support decision-making by state and local WDBs and other stakeholders. ETA does not prescribe how to perform outreach but suggests it be performed in collaboration with other workforce system entities that are doing similar outreach such as business engagement or industry outreach staff at the state and local level. c. Data collection and research methodology. All ETA-funded data collection population and dissemination activities must conform to the appropriate BLS PMP ARC or generally accepted professional standards and methodologies. Information used in reports must 1 be based in part on needs identified through customer consultations and product assessments and 2 come from credible sources that meet professional standards. Multiple sources must be used except when the report is based upon a single survey. Sources must be clearly referenced and or footnoted. Any additional methodologies employed and any variants encountered in the research must be clearly described. d. Publication requirements. In order to maximize the availability of WLMI products grantees must post grant-funded products reports and workforce information on their websites in a readily accessible manner unless otherwise indicated and meet standard federal accessibility requirements www.section508.gov . To meet this criterion grantees may use WIGS funding to develop maintain improve or host WLMI websites and other electronic delivery systems. Grantees must also use the approved language in Attachment 2 on products or sites that are funded by WIGS. This language is in Attachment 2 for convenience but is a standard requirement included in ETA grant award documents. e. Information technology IT specifications. To maximize its usefulness any IT system or application developed with WIGS should adhere to industry-standard open architecture principles with documentation and software made available for use by other organizations for federal governmental purposes. To enhance the reporting of the delivery of both virtual in-person and hard copy WLMI services to customers states are encouraged to work toward greater management information system integration to capture WLMI services provided. Additionally we encourage states to maintain and share with ETA state LMI website analytics such as the number of visitors page views top LMI pages or websites visited or other analytics the state would like to share. Required forms files and deadlines. Please refer to TEGL No. 11-24 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Adult Dislocated Worker and Youth Activities Program Allotments for Program Year PY 2025 PY 2025 Allotments for the Wagner-Peyser Act Employment Service Program and PY 2025 Allotments of Workforce Information Grants to 6 States and Outlying Areas for application submission requirements for PY 2025 WIGS grants. a. Other standard forms and files. ETA requires grantees to complete ETA Form 9130 quarterly financial reports within 45 days of the end of each quarter. In addition grantees must maintain their internal grant files in electronic form and make these available to ETA upon request. b. Deadlines. By accepting WIGS funding a state agrees to fulfill all work specified in this guidance and adhere to the specified deadlines. ETA expects grantees to expend WIGS funds using a First in First Out spending system. All grant funds awarded in a prior program year should be expended before spending funds received from a later grant. Any carryover must be expended before spending any new funding. Grantees must expend the PY 2025 funds within the three-year period ending June 30 2028. During the performance period the grantee and the ETA regional office may jointly adjust planned expenditures within the state s allotment. c. Expenditures. All WIGS expenditures must support the required and allowable activities and conform to reasonable necessary and allocable costs specified in 2 CFR Part 200 Uniform Guidance see https www.ecfr.gov cgi-bin text- idx tpl ecfrbrowse Title02 2cfr200 main 02.tpl . WIGS cannot be used to supplant funding from other federal or state sources. Please contact your ETA regional federal project officer FPO if you have questions or need technical assistance. Encouraged innovation in modernizing workforce data and systems. To the extent feasible ETA encourages states to explore innovative ways to strengthen and improve the responsiveness of WLMI eliminate information silos and help job seekers and employers make more informed workforce decisions. Such activities may include leveraging WLMI to support the use of technology to enhance career navigation and mobility exploring how artificial intelligence AI tools might be used to support development and dissemination of more responsive WLMI and or exploring the use of new sources of data to produce WLMI that is more local timely and actionable. In thinking about innovative activities and products ETA encourages states to consider the recommendations of the Workforce Information Advisory Council WIAC which is a federal advisory committee chartered to provide recommendations to the Secretary of Labor to improve the WLMI system at the national state and local levels see https www.dol.gov agencies eta wioa wiac meetings . The most recent report from WIAC included a recommendation to test the potential to produce new products that show the impact of local labor market shocks on skill demand and career transitions so that the WLMI system can more proactively prepare to meet the needs of its customers. The report also included a recommendation for more open innovative and actionable information reports and dashboards through a modernized WLMI system that calls for strong collaboration and information sharing among system partners use of open-source software formation of data collaboratives and more advanced analytical and visualization techniques. The Department has taken multiple WIAC recommendations into account in its strategic planning and looks 7 forward to engaging states further. In the meantime for actions that states themselves can initiate ETA encourages states to consider these as well as other past and future WIAC recommendations in determining what additional innovative work may be feasible. Encouraged economic and labor market reports products and activities. ETA encourages grantees to produce other reports and data in addition to those outlined above. These reports may include accurate data actionable information and resources that enable job seekers employers staff in AJCs state and local WDBs policy makers and the workforce development system to make informed decisions about the reemployment work-based learning training and career pathways strategies that lead to rapid reemployment and worker advancement along a continuum of high-demand and high-wage jobs. ETA encourages states to develop other products that may include online self-service tools and other occupational and career guidance resources for job seekers including UI claimants industry- or occupation-specific research data visualizations job vacancy surveys supply demand analysis reports based on analyses of on-line job orders job ads data sources and studies of topics of continuing interest such as labor or skill supply and demand mismatches and deficiencies. Examples of these reports and products are found on state websites and various U.S. Department of Labor websites. Another encouraged report is a statewide annual economic analysis report. In previous years this report was a requirement in the WIGS TEGL however this year it is no longer a required product. ETA regards state economic and labor market analyses as important to plan WIOA and other workforce programs. Therefore ETA encourages states to publish an annual statewide economic analysis report and provide it to state policymakers including the governor and state legislature and state and local WDBs and to disseminate it widely via state websites state press releases and state social media content. Grantees have broad discretion over the reports contents but they are encouraged to include analyses of trends and challenges at both the state and sub-state levels. Examples of topics may include employment growth or decline actual and projected unemployment and other labor market hardship indicators such as low earnings identification of growing and or in-demand occupations and or industries other analyses of important industries and occupations and skill shortages mismatches or deficiencies within the limitations of the available data. With regard to LMI training ETA encourages states to provide training and technical assistance to customers outside of the required LMI training for state and local workforce development staff. This may be conducted through in-person or virtual presentations social media campaigns or any other forms of print or electronic media to assist the grantee in promoting the LMI products created using WIGS funding. 5. Inquiries. For questions on grant requirements contact the applicable ETA regional office. For financial management questions contact the applicable ETA regional office or the Grants Management Specialist Sabrina Guerrier and National Grant Officer Jenifer McEnery at DOL-ETA-DWG dol.gov. 8 6. References. Section 3 c 4 of the Wagner-Peyser Act as amended 29 U.S.C. 49b c 4 2 CFR Part 200 and 2 CFR Part 2900 Uniform Administrative Requirements Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Section 508 as amended 29 U.S.C. 794d TEGL No. 15-14 Implementation of the New Uniform Guidance Regulations December 19 2014 https www.dol.gov agencies eta advisories training-and-employment- guidance-letter-no-15-14 and TEGL No. 11-24 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Adult Dislocated Worker and Youth Activities Program Allotments for Program Year PY 2025 PY 2025 Allotments for the Wagner-Peyser Act Employment Service Program and PY 2025 Allotments of Workforce Information Grants to States and Outlying Areas May 20 2025 https www.dol.gov agencies eta advisories tegl-no-11-24. 7. Attachments. I. Consolidated Requirements for WIGS Grantees II. Language for Grant Product Attribution and Intellectual Property Rights