A resource, framework, or playbook that helps organizations gather, analyze, and apply labor market data to inform workforce and hiring strategies. These guides are commonly used by HR professionals, education providers, policymakers, and workforce boards to navigate the evolving labor market, understand emerging skills, and support data-informed decision-making in hiring, upskilling, and strategic workforce planning. It typically includes:

• Real-time labor market data sources (e.g., job postings, skills taxonomies, employment trends)
• Taxonomies of skills and occupations
• Analytical methods (e.g., AI-powered skills matching, skills gap analysis)
• Best practices for aligning talent supply with demand
• Case studies from companies and regions, or tools for making informed decisions about hiring, training, and workforce planning

Examples:

• The World Economic Forum’s Talent Intelligence Platform (TIP) Playbook. This playbook outlines how to build a skills-based approach to workforce planning, including mapping current skills and supply and demand using taxonomies like ESCO and O*NET; and integrating skills data into HR systems.
• Lightcast Talent Intelligence Playbook. Helps organizations assess the supply and demand for specific skills in local or national labor markets; identify skill gaps in their workforce; forecast talent needs based on emerging trend; and inform workforce development strategies such as training programs or recruitment efforts.

Alternative Terms:

• Workforce Analytics Guide: Emphasizes the use of data science in HR and planning
• Labor Market Intelligence Toolkit (LMI Toolkit): Public-sector term for data resources on jobs, skills, and trends
• Talent Market Report: Shorter, insight-driven documents focused on workforce trends
• Strategic Workforce Planning Framework: Broader strategy guide that includes talent intelligence as one part
• Skills Intelligence Framework: Focuses specifically on skill-level data and emerging needs
• Skills Taxonomy User Guide: A guide to using structured skill lists like O*NET or ESCO