'It's going to get worse': open jobs outpacing workforce in Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Lawmakers in Oklahoma are still trying to figure out what to do with federal pandemic relief funds, and one option is becoming more clear: the need to address a worker shortage in the state.
The State Chamber presented data and findings to the Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding at the state capitol on Tuesday.
"Oklahoma has huge workforce problems. That's unarguable," said Chad Warmington, the President and CEO of the State Chamber. "You can quibble about the details, but the reality is we're not delivering for Oklahoma's workforce."
According to the Chamber's data, in 2021, there were 36,000 more job postings than people searching for work.
"This isn't a 2021 or a 2022 problem," said Ben Lepak, from the State Chamber's Research Foundation. "This is a problem we're going to continue to face as a state and, in fact, it's going to get worse if we don't address it."
The workforce Oklahoma does have isn't qualified for the types of jobs that are booming in the state right now, like STEM and computer science jobs.
There were 21,000 job openings that went unfilled for jobs requiring a bachelor's degree in 2021. According to the State Chamber, the percentage of the working-age population in Oklahoma that holds a Bachelor's degree is ranked 45th in the country and only accounts for 26% of the workforce.
If you narrow that down to STEM or STEM-related degrees and credentials, we rank 50th in the country.
The State Chamber is recommending lawmakers create an organization, sole entity or job position to address the worker shortage. The person or agency would be in charge of figuring out deficiencies, helping connect training services for job seekers, and finding workers to help lure large companies into the state.
Oklahoma's workforce problem is one issue that led to the loss of Panasonic to Kansas, Warmington said.
"It's pretty clear that Oklahoma can't articulate and doesn't have a person who is the clear lead and owns workforce," Warmington said after a lawmaker asked why we failed to bring in Project Ocean (Panasonic). "I don't know if that's the reason we lost that, but we can imagine..."
Warmington said two states, Florida and Ohio, have a specified economic development recruitment person. Those people are in charge of helping lure businesses, like Panasonic, to states by figuring out how the state will supply the workforce.
"It's just a different way of approaching it instead of just selling them on incentives," Warmington added. "They have someone who actually owns the workforce initiatives, too."
Some other key occupations that are experiencing a worker shortage right now include the nursing, teaching, and truck driving fields.
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