How are Projections Used?
The Research & Planning (R&P) Section of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services annually publishes long-term statewide projections by industry and occupation. These projections are regularly used by employers, educators, policymakers, jobseekers, and more.
In its Clinical Education Plan (University of Wyoming, 2010), the University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences wrote, "Currently there are shortages of practitioners in virtually all of the health professions and projections indicate that these shortages will increase. The Wyoming Department of Employment in May 2010 released the long-term industry projections for Wyoming for 2008-2018 and the largest gains are projected to be in the healthcare and social assistance industry, an increase of 24.1%."
During a recent presentation, Gallagher compared the number of annual openings from the recent occupational projections to the number of college completers for a specific occupation (Gallagher, 2012). For example, based on 2009-2010 occupational projections, there were 102 openings for licensed practical & licensed vocational nurses in 2010. However, there were 15 fewer people who graduated from one of Wyoming's colleges in 2009 with a degree specific to this occupation. This indicates a need for more workers to be trained and educated for this type of occupation.
The Wyoming Career Explorer 2011 (WYDOE, 2011) uses occupational projections to inform students who are just starting to select a career path. This product links occupational projections with data from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey to determine what types of jobs are expected to be in demand, and how much people working in those jobs in Wyoming can expect to be paid.
All of R&P's products can be found online at http://doe.state.wy.us/LMI.
References
University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences. (2010). Clinical Education Plan. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
Gallagher, T. (2011). How do we establish need? Presented at the Healthcare Workforce Summit, Cheyenne, WY. Retrieved June 15, 2011, from http://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/presentations/
Health_Care_Summit_06142011.pdf
Wyoming Department of Employment. (2011). Wyoming Career Explorer 2011. Retrieved June 15, 2011, from http://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/explore/2011/2011.pdf