Workforce
Intelligence Lab

The workforce behind what comes next.

Independent research on workforce conditions and the delivery of infrastructure, energy, and manufacturing.

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From the research library

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What the evidence is showing

Observed government statistics from the Library's public evidence layer — the same governed data package, not a separate calculation.

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Markets moving · BLS QCEW
Where construction employment is growing — and contractingQ1 2026 preliminary
Private NAICS 23 March employment change, Q1 2025 → Q1 2026 · five largest observed increases and decreases among the 34 comparable jurisdictions

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Where construction employment is growing — and contractingDiverging bar chart: Texas +33,661 (+3.8%); Virginia +11,621 (+5.2%); Michigan +7,972 (+4.3%); Ohio +7,298 (+3.0%); Iowa +6,618 (+8.6%); Washington −4,060; Oregon −5,169; New York −8,758; California −10,264; Florida −19,730.no changeTexas+33,661 · +3.8%Virginia+11,621 · +5.2%Michigan+7,972 · +4.3%Ohio+7,298 · +3.0%Iowa+6,618 · +8.6%Washington−4,060Oregon−5,169New York−8,758California−10,264Florida−19,730

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) — Private ownership, NAICS 23 Construction, March employment. Q1 2026 preliminary. · Measure: Construction employment change, March Q1 2025 → March Q1 2026 (jobs) · Period: Q1 2025 (revised) → Q1 2026 (preliminary) · Movement rankings include only the 34 jurisdictions marked comparable for Q1 2025 → Q1 2026; 17 jurisdictions are excluded for suppression/missingness or comparability limitations. Construction employment change — not workforce pressure, shortage, availability, or hiring difficulty.

The compensation evidence

From the WIL Compensation Profiles series — observed public-source wage distributions for released geographies. New profiles publish on a scheduled cadence.

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WIL Compensation Profiles · BLS OEWS
What construction management pays across the profiled metrosMay 2025 OEWS
Construction Managers (SOC 11-9021) — annual wage band (10th–90th percentile) with the median marked · five highest and five lowest medians among the 22 metros with released compensation profiles

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What construction management pays across the profiled metrosRange chart (10th to 90th percentile, annual wage): San Francisco $100,910 to $225,120, median $166,030; San Jose $97,900 to $249,990, median $163,040; San Diego $82,290 to $208,350, median $133,210; Los Angeles $75,730 to $212,330, median $131,680; Sacramento $79,330 to $198,680, median $129,440; Dallas–Ft. Worth $66,580 to $166,770, median $103,550; Houston $68,500 to $170,590, median $103,530; Austin $69,740 to $169,110, median $102,980; San Antonio $61,370 to $157,450, median $98,450; College Sta.–Bryan $59,850 to $147,510, median $88,410. Reference line: US median $114,990.$60k$80k$100k$120k$140k$160k$180k$200k$220k$240kUS medianSan Francisco$166,030San Jose$163,040San Diego$133,210Los Angeles$131,680Sacramento$129,440Dallas–Ft. Worth$103,550Houston$103,530Austin$102,980San Antonio$98,450College Sta.–Bryan$88,410

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 — via the Lab's governed public-source warehouse. · Measure: Annual wage distribution — 10th percentile, median, 90th percentile · Period: May 2025 reference period · Estimates BLS does not publish for an area are omitted — missing values are never shown as zero. Observed wage distributions — not a market-rate recommendation and not a workforce-availability, shortage, or hiring-difficulty measure.

Current projects

Founding research projects are shown as work in development, not completed findings.

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Project · TAX-001Open for contribution
Research question

How should America’s skilled workforce be consistently classified across occupations, specialties, skills, credentials, industries, and labor-market data systems?

Develop a shared, versioned vocabulary for skilled-workforce research so roles, trades, credentials, and capability requirements can be compared across sources without implying false equivalence.

Expertise needed: Occupational classification, Skilled trades, Taxonomy engineering, NLP methods, Workforce research
Project · MAP-001Open for contribution
Research question

Where are major infrastructure investments likely to place overlapping demands on the same skilled workforce?

Develop a governed geographic research view connecting data-center, power-generation, and transmission/grid project evidence with comparable workforce measures while keeping lifecycle, coverage, timing, and uncertainty visible.

Expertise needed: GIS, Labor economics, Infrastructure research, Energy and power, Data engineering

The Lab

A public research-broadcast initiative built around difficult workforce questions—not a promotional content series.

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Questions under development

Are candidates applying to ghost jobs — or real open roles ready to be filled?

Topics are published as research questions before any guest, episode, carriage, or distribution claim is made.

Research conversation

Researchers and practitioners in the same inquiry

Evidence, field experience, disagreement, and open questions remain visible rather than being compressed into promotional conclusions.

Public distribution

Designed to travel without losing context

Live, on-demand, audio, library, media, and event pathways are being prepared. No carriage or partnership is represented as confirmed.

Research network

Participation is substantive and selective. Individual participation never implies an institutional partnership or authority over WIL findings.

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Research Fellows

Researchers contributing to defined design, analysis, authorship, or review roles.

Industry Fellows

Practitioners contributing nonfiduciary context and domain challenge.

Technical Fellows

Methodology, data, and research-system contributors.

Contributors & Partners

Named contributors and substantiated research relationships, each disclosed accurately.

Data & evidence

The governed research infrastructure behind measurement, monitoring, and publication.

Core research question. How do workforce conditions influence the ability of infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, and mission-critical investments to be delivered as planned?
Research infrastructure

Evidence Monitor

A monitoring surface for appropriately governed evidence streams. It is infrastructure—not a fourth flagship contributor project.

Apparatus

Methodologies

Versioned specifications, assumptions, validation evidence, limits, and change history.

Sources

Data & Open Research

Disclosed source families, lineage, coverage boundaries, permitted use, and limitations.

Research participation

Participate

WIL is built with a research network. Applications are substantive and reviewed; submission does not imply acceptance, affiliation, or endorsement.

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