Consultants working on the Tulsa Chamber’s workforce analysis project crunch the numbers to forecast growth through 2018 in different industries.
According to an analysis from the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, aerospace is expected to grow 8 percent and manufacturing nearly 5 percent. Denise Reid with the chamber said the next step is finding workers for these jobs.
"The opportunities that are actually in manufacturing, aerospace, engineering, accounting, finance — all of these careers create great opportunities, and there are pathways to them that don't necessarily start with a four-year degree," Reid said.
Tulsa job growth was slow to recover from the recession, but it’s outpaced the rest of the state the last two years.
The data also show employment imbalances in different areas, such as 92 percent of west Tulsa jobs filled by people who don’t live there. Reid said there's a lot to learn from the project.
"What are our power sectors?" she said. "What are our career opportunities, and how do we get our education, K–12, understanding where kids have some of the best opportunities to earn a self-sufficiency wage?"
The project is part of Tulsa’s Future, a chamber initiative to generate high-paying jobs and attract capital investors.
