Research Economist - Labor Pricing & Forecasting
Posted October 29, 2026
Job Description
AlphaGov is seeking a Research Economist to support research and consulting opportunities involving labor markets, wage forecasting, workforce availability, and project cost risk.
We are looking for someone who can estimate how hiring costs change across locations and time periods, assess the effects of competing labor demand, and explain how those changes affect budgets and project decisions.
Scope of Work
- Develop and validate forecasts of wages, labor costs, and workforce supply and demand.
- Analyze how changes in project timing shift hiring needs into different market conditions.
- Evaluate labor mobility, occupational shortages, hiring competition, overtime, and compensation pressure.
- Build scenarios showing how alternative hiring dates and staffing plans affect project costs.
- Combine public economic data with client staffing, payroll, and project records.
- Establish forecast benchmarks, uncertainty ranges, and methods for testing accuracy.
- Contribute research methods, technical narratives, and findings to proposals and client deliverables.
- PhD preferred in economics, applied economics, econometrics, or a related quantitative field. Comparable applied research experience will be considered.
- Experience in labor economics, wage analysis, price forecasting, or workforce modeling.
- Demonstrated ability to develop and test econometric or statistical models.
- Proficiency in R, Python, Stata, SAS, or comparable analytical tools.
- Experience working with employment, compensation, industry, or regional economic datasets.
- Ability to translate research into clear recommendations for executives, program leaders, and project teams.
Experience with construction, infrastructure, utilities, energy, or skilled-trade labor markets is especially relevant.
