Oklahoma has identified nine driver and complementary economic systems representing the most prominent industries in terms of wealth generation and growth potential. Driver ecosystems drive wealth generation in Oklahoma, while the complementary ecosystems help to expand wealth in the economy and provide the infrastructure and services to support the driver systems in the state.
- Driver ecosystems: Aerospace and Defence, Agriculture and Biosciences, Energy, Information and Financial Systems, and Transportation and Distribution.
- Complementary Ecosystems: Construction, Health care, Education, and Creative industries.
These occupations represent the most pressing needs in each of Oklahoma’s Driver and Complementary Economic Systems necessary for the state’s
continued growth and economic prosperity. A workforce pipeline for each of the top 100 critical occupations is required for Oklahoma’s businesses to grow and for Oklahoma citizens to earn a prosperous living. Factors included in the selection process demonstrate the values of job growth, wealth generation, and education, as outlined below:
- Job growth: all occupations have positive forecasted employment growth over the next ten years.
- Wealth Generation: all occupations offer median wages greater than or equal to $12.00 per hour.
- Education: occupations requiring “no formal education” are eliminated, except those that offer greater than or equal to $20.00 per hour.
There are occupations that can provide valuable on-the-job training for individuals interested in the100 Critical Occupations. These are generally entry-level or mid-career level occupations that can help individuals develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to move forward on their career paths.
Career pathways are designed to help people who are looking to make the next step in their careers both envision and plan for their long-term employment goals. The recommended pathways in this report are based on forecasted employment prospects as well as knowledge, skills and ability profile data by specific occupation. These data were gathered from numerous employer-demand driven data sources. Based on these data, Oklahoma Works determined similarities and difference between each occupation’s required skill sets and developed possible career pathways options.
