Job Search Experience Survey

Staff at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) are always seeking new ways to collect data, analyze current labor market conditions and serve Minnesotans better. In collaboration with Local Workforce Development Boards and community-based partners, DEED surveys hundreds of workforce development professionals in the CareerForce system, which includes DEED staff, Local Workforce Development Board staff and community partners across Minnesota.

These frontline workforce development professionals in the CareerForce system serve thousands of job seekers across Minnesota every week, so they are able to offer a great sense of the current job search environment across the state as well as comparisons to the job search environment a year ago. A survey of job seekers themselves would likely not be able to provide such an objective comparison over the year, nor would it be possible to consistently survey job seekers after they find employment.

The collected survey results are transformed into an interactive data visualization that allows staff, partners, and the public to see the labor market through the eyes of those who work directly with job seekers. Conducted twice each year, the survey will build a time series that not only tracks the health of Minnesota’s labor market but also sheds light on emerging trends and shifts affecting job seekers in real time.

Results from the Job Search Experience Survey collected in July 2025 indicate people utilizing the CareerForce system in Minnesota to look for work are having a harder time finding employment now compared to last summer. Of the 310 CareerForce staff and partner survey respondents, 294 have worked with job seekers for at least the entire past year. Of those 294, 33 (11%) said it was somewhat easier or much easier for the job seekers they serve to find employment, 86 (29%) believed it was about the same and 174 (59%) said it was somewhat harder or much harder to find employment compared to a year ago .