Multnomah County Employment Trends Dashboards FAQs

Share your ideas:

We are continually working to improve the Multnomah County Employment Trends Dashboards. Please share your feedback about changes or improvements you would like to see.

Dashboard navigation:

In general, each of the dashboards have similar navigation patterns. The top of the screen will show you which dashboard you are currently viewing and the date of the last update:

Name of the dashboard and last update at the top of each dashboard.

Next, you will be able to choose which data you would like to view using the dashboard filters. There are filters for Department, Employee Type (e.g., regular represented, on-call employees, etc.), Employee Level, and Bargaining Unit. 

Image of filters available on the dashboards.

All of the dashboards allow you to view the data for different demographic groups by selecting the demographic you would like to view. Including: disability status, gender identity, generation, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and veteran status.

List of demographics for dashboards.

At this point, the dashboard is set up with the filers and demographic groups you have selected. If you would like to view data for a specific group, select that group on the legend. This will highlight the data for that group or further filter the dashboard to show the information for that group.

Example of legend.

You can also navigate to different dashboard elements by using Tab. Filters can be changed by using Enter or the Spacebar. To select an item on the legend, navigate to the legend using Tab. Then use Enter to select the legend. Use the left arrow key to move to the list of identities and press Enter again. Then, you can navigate to the identity of your choosing with the up/down arrow keys. You can select or unselect an identity to view by using the Spacebar.  Additional information about navigating Tableau is available in the article: Keyboard Accessibility for Tableau Views

Where do these data come from?

All data are pulled from Workday, the software used to manage employee information. Information about employment actions (e.g., hires, separations, promotions) are entered into Workday by Human Resources. 

Information about the demographics of employees are entered by employees themselves. The personal information categories for race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity were originally recommended by the Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE) based in large part on two Data Equity Summits held in 2016. These categories were updated were updated in June 2023 based on recommendations from ODE and Employee Resource Groups. Employees can update their information by going to Workday, selecting the “Personal Information” app, and then changing their personal information. Here are some instructions for employees about how to update personal information in Workday.

How often are the data updated?

The data on all dashboards are updated after the end of every quarter. The fiscal year runs from July 1st to June 30th the following year. As a result, the end of the quarters are as follows: September 30 (Q1), December 31 (Q2), March 31 (Q3), and June 30 (Q4).

The most recent update period is listed at the top of the dashboard. If there has been a change since the previous quarterly update (for example, a promotion retroactively changed in Workday), that change will be reflected on the next quarterly update following the change being made in Workday. There are three primary updates that occur: 

  1. Quarterly Updates: When the dashboards are updated at the end of each quarter, the new quarterly information will be available to view. To view the updated quarterly information, ensure that you have selected “Quarter” under the Date View:

You can switch between Quarters and Fiscal Years by using date view.

  1. Fiscal Year Updates: Dashboards show information for the most recent three full fiscal years. The years shown are only available when the full fiscal year has been completed. The full fiscal year will not be shown until all four quarters have been completed. If you are interested in the most recent information rather than a full fiscal year, you may want to view data quarterly (as described above).
  2. Demographic Information Updates: Quarterly updates will also automatically update demographic information across the dashboards. If employees update their demographic information in Workday, those changes will not be reflected on the dashboards until the next quarterly update.

Why might the data not match other sources?

In general, there may be a variety of reasons different sources may show slightly different numbers of employees or percent of employees. Differences may be due to differences in how the data are aggregated, updated, and the decisions that are made about how to show the data. 

The most likely reason you may notice a difference is that the data were pulled on different days. Our workforce changes constantly, so you may see slight differences if the data are pulled at different times. 

Another possible reason for differences across sources is that the dashboards are updated retroactively. This means that if an action was applied retroactively (e.g., an employee’s reclassification is back-dated), that retroactive change will be reflected in the dashboards at the next update, but may not show up in other sources that are not retroactively updated.

Where can I find information about how to navigate the dashboards with a keyboard?

You can navigate to different dashboard elements by using Tab. Filters can be changed by using Enter or the Spacebar. 

To select an item on the legend, navigate to the legend using Tab. Then use Enter to select the legend. Use the left arrow key to move to the list of identities and press Enter again. Then, you can navigate to the identity of your choosing with the up/down arrow keys. You can select or unselect an identity to view by using the Spacebar.  

Additional information about navigating Tableau is available in the article: Keyboard Accessibility for Tableau Views

What is the difference between the Multnomah County Employment Trends Report and Dashboards?

The Multnomah County Employment Trends Report is produced by the Department of County Management (DCM) Evaluation and Research Unit (ERU) every other year, with the next report expected for FYs 2023 - 2024. This report analyzes data related Employment Trends, including employee movement and demographics, using a statistical lens. The report highlights where we are seeing different rates or emerging trends. The report uses a snapshot of data and is not retroactively updated. 

The Multnomah County Employment Trends Dashboards are regularly updated (quarterly) but do not include analyses. There is no statistical testing or interpretation of the data presented. The dashboards are retroactively updated as we have additional information or retroactive employee movement.

The full report and additional materials can be found here.

Definitions of terms used on the dashboards:

Definitions of Employee Types:

  • Regular employees: Employees in on-going, budgeted positions. Regular employees may be represented by a Bargaining Labor Union (e.g., AFSCME Local 88, Oregon Nurses Association, Corrections Deputy Association), or Non-represented.
  • Limited Duration employees: Hired from outside the County into a limited duration position for up to two years. Limited Duration employees constituted about 3% of the County workforce in FY 2022.
  • Temporary employees: Hired from outside the County to meet short-term, non-recurring, or emergency County work needs. Temporary employees typically work at least 20 hours per week, for up to 1,040 hours (6 months), with a potential extension to 2,080 hours (one year). Temporary employees constituted about 2% of the County workforce in FY 2022.
  • On-Call employees: Hired from outside the County to meet intermittent, irregular, or less-than-half-time County work needs. On-Call employees constituted about 7% of the County workforce in FY 2022.
  • Seasonal employees: Hired for a short amount of time to support a seasonal effort, such as an election. Seasonal employees constituted about 3% of the County workforce in FY 2022.
  • Interns: Employees who are often students or trainees who are gaining work experience, sometimes to satisfy requirements for a qualification (e.g., legal interns in the District Attorney’s Office) or are participating in the College to County Internship program. Interns constituted about 2% of the County workforce in FY 2022.

Other than hires and separations, there are a number of different types of employee movements:

  • Limited duration assignments: When a Regular employee takes an assignment that is more than 6 months but less than 2 years; when the assignment ends, the employee has rights to return to their previous job profile. This is different from Limited Duration employees, who are hired from outside the County into a limited duration position. See below for results related to Limited Duration employees.
  • Work out of class (WOC) assignments: When a Regular employee works in a higher job profile for more than 5 days but less than 6 months; the employee usually returns to their previous position unless they are promoted.
  • Temporary assignments: When a Regular employee works in an equivalent or lower job profile for more than 5 days but less than 6 months; the employee usually returns to their previous position. This is different from Temporary employees, who are hired from outside the County into a temporary position. See below for results related to Temporary employees.
  • Reclassifications: Reclassifications are when a manager or employee requests to change the job profile assigned to an existing position. It may occur when the primary focus of a position has evolved, minimum qualifications have changed, or major duties are added or removed. Reclassification does not always result in a pay grade change or an adjustment in an employees’ rate of pay.
  • Demotions: Demotions are when an employee moves to a position of a lower classification. Demotions can be voluntary or involuntary; involuntary demotions are generally a result of disciplinary action. 
  • Lead status: Lead status is when an employee takes on a lead role on a project or team.

Definitions of generations: We base the definitions of generations on the Pew Research Categories.

Comparisons to the Labor Pool and Multnomah County Community:

Labor Pool: The labor pool data is provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. The labor pool comparison is the proportion of the workforce employed or seeking work in Local or State Government for the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area (2018 5-year estimates). Data are shown by sex (male/female) and by race and ethnicity. Data are unavailable for additional demographic groups.

Multnomah County Community: The Multnomah County Community data is provided by the U.S. Census Bureau based on population estimates from Multnomah County as of April 1, 2020. Data are shown by sex (male/female), race and ethnicity, disability status, and veteran status. 

Dashboard Updates:

Q3 2023 Update (April 13, 2023): Added table showing number of separations that occurred within 1 year of hire for regular employees (represented and non-represented) by fiscal year. Additional graph shows the information by demographic group. Due to small numbers, the graph is the combination of the three most recent complete fiscal years.

Q4 2023 Update (July 27, 2023): Tenure added to tooltip for most frequent separations by job group (Separations Dashboard). Tenure and average age added to Demographics Dashboard. Some demographic groups were updated in the system of record (Workday), resulting in new demographic categories for gender, sexual orientation, and military status.

Q1 2024 Update (October 6, 2023): Reclassification data removed from 'Employee Movement' dashboard due to incomplete data in Workday. In order to show more accurate data, the age metric was changed to median, rather than average.

Q3 2024 Update (April 14, 2024): New dashboard added showing temporary or on-call employee hire information.

Report Updates:

April 28, 2023: Updated the Veteran Status of Regular Employees graph with the correct percentages, which were previously mis-printed. Updated the Separation Rate for ONA, Corrections, and FOPPO Bargaining Units graph with the correct rates for FOPPO in FY 2020 and FY 2021, which were previously mis-printed; we also added the number of employees in each group.

December 11, 2023: Updated the Equity Considerations in the Appendix.