Labor Market Intelligence & Talent Availability

Planning your future workforce without understanding external labor conditions is like launching a product without market research.
Labor market intelligence (LMI) is essential to bridge the gap between internal demand and external supply.

When integrated into workforce planning, LMI enables smarter decisions about:

• Where to hire or grow
• How competitive your salaries and EVP are
• What sourcing strategies are realistic
• When internal development is a better option

Why LMI Matters in Strategic Workforce Planning

• It prevents overpromising on hiring timelines
• Helps assess feasibility of new locations or business units
• Avoids talent bottlenecks in critical roles
• Supports decisions on outsourcing or automation

Key Labor Market Metrics

• Talent availability (total supply, growth trends)
• Salary benchmarks and compensation pressure
• Time-to-fill averages
• Turnover and attrition rates by region/industry
• Skill gaps and emerging roles
• Diversity pipelines and inclusion trends

Sources of LMI

• Government data (e.g., BLS, Eurostat, national statistics)
• Commercial platforms (e.g., Lightcast, LinkedIn Talent Insights, Gartner)
• Job board analytics (e.g., Indeed, Glassdoor trends)
• University pipelines and graduation data
• Internal recruiting analytics

Using LMI to Shape Workforce Decisions

1. Location Strategy

• Where should you open new offices or hubs?
• Where can you scale teams affordably?

2. Make vs Buy vs Outsource

• Build talent internally?
• Hire externally?
• Contract or automate?

3. Diversity Planning

• Understand how diverse the external market is in key roles
• Avoid unrealistic diversity targets without supporting infrastructure

4. Sourcing & Branding Strategy

• Which channels work best in target markets?
• Is your EVP aligned with market expectations?

Challenges and Limitations

Other risks include:

• Overreliance on generalized benchmarks
• Ignoring local cultural factors or candidate preferences
• Misinterpreting macro data without job-level segmentation

Best Practices

• Work with finance, procurement, and strategy to triangulate insights
• Use dashboards to make labor data visible to hiring managers
• Partner with TA and employer branding to adjust messaging based on market

Understanding the market doesn’t mean lowering your standards—it means making strategic trade-offs that let you build a workforce that works.