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Business Response Survey
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BRS Overview
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has developed the Business Response Survey (BRS) to field timely and relevant establishment surveys for BLS.
Business Response Survey on Telework, Hiring, and Vacancies — 2022
BLS produced BRS data for 2022, which refers to a survey fielded in 2022, and references private-sector establishments' experiences with telework, hiring, and vacancies in July-September 2022.
This survey asked a series of questions to understand telework, hiring, and vacancies at businesses. This information is particularly critical in understanding how the labor market has changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey asked about telework at the time of data collection (Aug-Sept 2022) and before the pandemic (Feb 2020), about newly hired workers in July 2022, and how employers attracted applicants to these newly filled positions, and about vacancies in August through September 2022, and how employers advertised vacancies over the past year (Aug 2021 - Sept 2022) for positions that required a 4-year degree, and those that didn't.
Business Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic — 2021
BLS produced BRS data for 2021, which refers to a survey fielded in 2021, and references changes private-sector establishments made since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic through September 2021.
This survey asked a series of questions to understand changes businesses have made during the coronavirus pandemic along with questions about expectations for the future of the business. The new data provides additional insights by asking employers what they experienced as a result of the pandemic, how they responded, and expectations for the future at their business. The data were collected from July 27 through September 30, 2021. Results by topic include telework, workplace flexibilities, changes in pay, COVID-19 workplace requirements, office space footprint, relocation, supplementing workforce, automation, drug and alcohol testing, and COVID-19 loans or grants.
Business Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic — 2020
BLS produced BRS data for 2020, which refers to a survey fielded in 2020, and references changes private-sector establishments made since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic through September 2020.
This survey asked a series of questions to understand changes businesses made during the coronavirus pandemic. The survey starts by asking a key question that gives context to understanding the economic circumstances the business currently faces. The answers to this question help in framing their answers to the remaining questions about the actions the establishment is taking in responding to the pandemic environment. This question is not asked in other BLS surveys, giving the question critical value, particularly when viewed in conjunction with other BLS data products.
The answers to the next question give information about the payroll decisions that the establishment is making, which directly informs many of the key insights we need to know to understand the labor market. Again, without this type of information, data users and policy makers would have to make assumptions that changes in payroll were a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. By asking respondents directly what changes they made due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we are relying on information provided directly from establishment respondents who know better than anyone about their situations and decisions.
The remaining questions are all relevant to key issues about the pandemic: are employees continuing to be paid despite not working, is the employer maintaining payments for health insurance coverage (important to know in the context of any pandemic when employees have tenuous job security), are the employees at the establishment teleworking more (given many stay-at-home orders, knowing who can and cannot work from home is key to understanding the short-, medium-,and long-term effects of the Coronavirus pandemic), and whether the establishment was able to secure government funding (helps inform take-up rate and what economic conditions make an establishment more likely to seek out a loan).
Last Modified Date: March 22, 2023