While some sectors report the labor market is softening, we have had no indications that attracting and retaining top talent is easier. If anything, the factors influencing decisions for employers and employees have just become more complex.

The timing of the release of the Chamber’s OP Talent NOW Comprehensive Workforce Study couldn’t be better. The study is a key deliverable of the Opportunity NOW initiative. Our Talent Council, guided by Dana Streck and Maria Gibbs from WellSky Corporation, designed the RFP to deliver a comprehensive labor study and actionable recommendations to guide our long-term strategies to meet existing and future employer needs.

TIP Strategies from Austin, Tex., offered the expertise to meet the demands of the RFP; we partnered with them in November and over the past nine months our workforce and economic development teams developed four major deliverables:

• Comprehensive workforce study with a series of recommendations to address our talent challenges,
• Interactive dashboard providing a full occupation analysis in our area,
• Workforce data dashboard offering a deep quantitative analysis,
• Top employment segment profile snapshots.

Data nerds can dive deep into the numerous charts and graphs, and business owners and leaders, HR directors, and government, education, civic, and non-profit professionals can use it to analyze our top employer sectors in parallel with our assets, gaps, barriers, future trends, and opportunities.

TIP Strategies will unveil the study at the Chamber’s first Talent Connect Workforce Summit on September 26 at the University of Kansas Edwards Campus. Bill Jewell, CIO at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, will have a keynote about enhancing your team’s productivity with artificial intelligence. If you’re like me, you’ve often heard you should use AI at the office, but rarely have you heard the specifics about how to do it. Come to the Summit and hear how. We’ll also cover other workforce topics like apprenticeships, workforce culture, childcare and more.
You’ll leave the Summit with actionable steps to help you Attract, Anchor, and Align your talent.

To learn more about the Summit and our workforce initiatives, contact Andrew Weisberg, Director of Talent, at aweisberg@opchamber.org.