Finding a highly skilled labor pool is becoming more and more of a
challenge for many enterprises. Recently, Bill Gates was quoted
by the Reuters news agency as saying that the West is not
supplying enough IT talent, and that the search for talent is moving to
the former Soviet block and other places. We have also recently seen
evidence of a coming shortage of government workers.
So companies are looking outside the US for skilled labor and are
considering outsourcing as an option. But how do you know where to look
for people, especially if you have a specific need and a particular
geography in mind? That's where GeoLabour's application can help.
Demographic Audit is "a forward looking, local mobility, local
demographics and local socio-economics projections tool." "Forward
looking" means the product can forecast as far as 20 years into the
future. It uses Microsoft MapPoint, along with statistical and graphing
software that comes from GeoLabour. (Evidently the product supports
other mapping platforms as well.) Based on my look at it, I would say
this is "very serious" software, specifically focused and aiming to
solve a particular challenge.
Here are some examples, which I found in the company's literature, of
queries you would be able to make. The assumption below is that you are
looking for a specific target group of female college graduates.
How many female college graduates will there be
in 2018 in your country, compared to other countries?
Is your company's current location within your
country in a high growth area for this demographic?
If not, where are the high-growth locations for
this particular demographic in your country?
Assuming you are currently located in California
and want to stay in the state, where in California does this
demographic exist, and where will it exist in the future? Are there
higher concentrations of this demographic in neighboring states, and if
so which ones?
Based on the outcome of these queries, you can create
your own location ratings for age, gender and level of education.
You could then theoretically optimize your portfolio of company
locations based on this information.
Using the "specify age distribution" user interface shown below, you
can specify the ideal age distribution of the potential labor pool.
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for larger
image)
Below, you can specify educational attainment, gender, etc., and see
the results in a thumbnail map.
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for larger
image)
You can rank and rate locations, and look at a variety of other
metrics. You can look at an age ratio for any actual or projected year,
projected growth of the population in a specified gender/age group, or
look at the projected gender/age group-specific growth of population
having a certain educational attainment level, etc. You could take a
look at worker turnover as it relates to specific age groups in
specific regions, and have the opportunity to think strategically about
how to handle those changes.
Below is an example of the user interface for looking at multiple
locations.
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for larger
image)
The software also allows you to graphically compare specific areas as
they compare to the country as a whole. Below, the graph shows North
Carolina male employment by age.
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for larger
image)
Even more comprehensive is the distribution chart of the employable
population of Orange, North Carolina, shown below.
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for larger
image)
Because the software is integrated with MapPoint, you can also map
results, as shown below.
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for larger
image)
Summary
With this focus on labor pool identification, GeoLabour has expanded
the demographic analysis envelope. If we use Bill Gates' example of
expanding the search for high tech workers, the need for this type of
analysis could be mainstream very soon. In the field I come from -
retail network development - there has always been the assumption that
if you build a store, there will be someone available to work in it.
But what if you built a store and then found you couldn't staff it?
GeoLabour's solution helps you anticipate and deal with that kind of
question. It could even help you tap in to sources of employees you
never knew existed. A product demo version is available for download.
All comments provided in this section are those of the individual who has created the post. These are not the opinions of Directions Media, its editors, staff or owners unless otherwise noted. Directions Media retains the right to edit or delete any comments posted herein.
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