Texas Case Study

2009

The Texas Workforce Commission has exemplified its commitment to the reemployment of UI claimants through a best practice of developing and promoting state specific reemployment performance measures and incorporating those measures in contracts with workforce boards. These measures include: 1) percentage of claimant reemployed, 2) percentage of claimants returning to work within in 10 weeks of filing a UI claim, 3) average UI claim duration and 4) number of employers utilizing the one-stop system.

Over a five-year period (2003-2008), their success has proven out in the numbers:

  • UI claimant reemployment improved 27%,
  • Claimant return to work within 10 weeks of claim increased 119%,
  • Average duration declined from 15.3 to 13 weeks,
  • Employer use of the workforce system quadrupled and
  • The exhaustion rate decreased from 52% to 37%.

The results not only helped Texas job seekers move toward full employment, they yielded a five-year savings to the Texas state UI trust fund of nearly one billion dollars ($998 million). Texas has proven how truly powerful it is to measure what matters. These state-initiated measures have not only been successful but provide a ready model for other states to implement.

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