Independent Labour Market Researcher Services

The Vendor is required to provide for independent labour market researcher services.
- The researcher will design and conduct a structured regional research process to assess how trade and tariff-related volatility is affecting workforce stability, operational decision-making, and workforce planning capacity, key-person dependency, and internal labour flexibility among agency in northwest area.
- Research Planning and Design
• Review available project background documents, existing labour market information, relevant tariff and trade-related reports, and regional economic context.
• Participate in an onboarding meeting and ongoing scheduled meetings with agency, the project manager, and, if required, the project steering committee.
• Develop a practical research work plan, including methodology, data sources, participant categories, interview strategy, survey approach, analysis approach, timeline, and deliverable schedule.
• Develop or refine the agency selection and screening criteria in collaboration with agency and the project steering committee.
• Identify how the research will capture both direct and indirect trade impacts on agency.
• Recommend a practical definition or screening framework for “trade-impacted” or “tariff impacted” agency for use during research recruitment and later project phases.
• Ensure research tools are designed to support both project learning and downstream reporting requirements.
- Research Tool Development
• Structured interview guide for agency interviews.
• Survey instrument for broader agency input.
• Agency screening questions to assess trade exposure, workforce planning needs, supply chain impacts, and operational volatility.
• Workforce diagnostic questions related to key-person dependency, internal labour flexibility, cross-training, role redundancy, decision triggers, and operational readiness.
• Consent, confidentiality, and participant information language, subject to agency review and approval.
• Data collection template or coding framework to support analysis and reporting.
- Secondary Research and Context Review
• National and provincial tariff, trade, and supply chain information.
• State and northwest area labour market information.
• Sector-specific information related to forestry, agriculture, energy, transportation, industrial services, and supply chain support.
• Available data or reports from partner organizations or aligned initiatives, where access is provided by agency.
• Relevant information from the chambers supply chain network or related research, where available and approved for use.