Jobs for the Future, a Joyce Foundation Employment Program grantee, is collecting real-time labor market data to help align postsecondary training programs with the skills and occupations employers are seeking. This new initiative, Credentials that Work, aggregates and analyzes online job ads and provides a more comprehensive, real-time source of information about the hiring and skill needs of local employers.

In addition to learning about local skills needs, Credentials that Work seeks to identify how the new technology can supplement traditional sources of labor market information and determine how state policy can encourage the wider use of these technologies.Ten community colleges are part of the Initiative’s launch. Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, is the first Great Lakes region college to participate in Credentials that Work.

“If colleges expect to attract more students and graduate them prepared for sustainable careers, they must better align program offerings and course curricula to the needs of their local labor markets,” John Dorrer, program director at Jobs for the Future, said. “Decisions on which programs to offer and what to teach in class should correspond to employers’ immediate and ongoing demand for workers in a particular occupation or with a specific set of skills.”

In September 2011, Jobs for the Future published a report on using this data to inform community college curriculum. Read Aligning Community Colleges to their Local Labor Markets.