Latest / The 405 Payroll / OKC’s Hot Job Market: Why the Real Jobs Are In Person

Transcript

OKC’s Hot Job Market: Why the Real Jobs Are In Person · The 405 Payroll

• 0:13
  If I told you that Oklahoma City was officially named the fifth hottest job market
• 0:20
  in the entire United States, what is the first thing that comes to mind?
• 0:25
  Honestly?
• 0:26
  I would think, okay, then why is everybody I know still stressing out about rent?
• 0:33
  Right?
• 0:33
  That is the disconnect!
• 0:35
  The Wall Street Journal actually put Oklahoma City at number five nationwide,
• 0:40
  based on things like low unemployment and massive payroll growth.
• 0:45
  But if you are out there making sixteen or seventeen dollars an hour,
• 0:48
  that headline feels like it is describing a completely different planet.
• 0:53
  Yeah!
• 0:54
  You see a headline like that and you think, great, so where is my raise?
• 0:59
  Where is this hot job market hiding?
• 1:02
  It is, it is hiding behind algorithm walls, mostly.
• 1:07
  See, the jobs are real.
• 1:09
  The problem is how people are trying to get them.
• 1:13
  Everyone is sitting at home, clicking apply on these massive online job portals,
• 1:18
  throwing resumes into a black hole.
• 1:22
  Oh man.
• 1:22
  That takes me right back to my morning radio days.
• 1:26
  I remember we had a caller, this guy named Marcus.
• 1:29
  He called in at like five thirty in the morning, soundin' just exhausted.
• 1:34
  He had submitted over fifty online applications in two weeks.
• 1:39
  Fifty!
• 1:40
  And he got back...
• 1:41
  absolute radio silence.
• 1:43
  Zero responses?
• 1:46
  Not a single one.
• 1:48
  Not even an automated rejection email.
• 1:51
  He felt like he was losing his mind.
• 1:54
  And that is exactly what is happening to thousands of people right now.
• 1:58
  But here is the thing, Oklahoma City's actual hiring surge is happening offline.
• 2:05
  In person.
• 2:06
  The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, or OESC, holds these regular community
• 2:11
  hiring events all over the city specifically to bypass those resume filters.
• 2:17
  Wait, so...
• 2:19
  you mean actually walking up to a human being?
• 2:22
  Exactly.
• 2:23
  Real human beings!
• 2:25
  You walk into an OESC event, or something like the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber,
• 2:30
  and you are shaking hands with decision makers.
• 2:33
  In fact, speaking of the Chamber, they are actively recruiting right now for roles
• 2:37
  like a Manager of Education and Workforce Development, taking applications through
• 2:41
  September twenty fifth, twenty twenty six.
• 2:43
  That is a role specifically built to connect local employers with local talent.
• 2:49
  Huh.
• 2:50
  So instead of an automated software program tossing your resume because you missed
• 2:54
  one key phrase, a manager actually looks you in the eye.
• 2:59
  Precisely.
• 3:00
  The algorithm looks for reasons to say no.
• 3:03
  A face to face conversation gives you a chance to give them a reason to say yes.
• 3:07
  Okay, but let us talk about the actual paycheck for a second.
• 3:12
  Because if you are stuck at sixteen dollars an hour, getting a job that pays...
• 3:16
  say, eighteen dollars an hour helps, but it does not completely change your life.
• 3:22
  Right.
• 3:23
  The real jump, the life changing jump, is moving from sixteen dollars an hour up to
• 3:30
  twenty four, or even twenty eight dollars an hour.
• 3:33
  Which usually sounds like you need a four year degree and forty thousand dollars in
• 3:38
  student loan debt, right?
• 3:40
  That is the myth!
• 3:42
  But in Oklahoma City right now, you do not need four years.
• 3:46
  Organizations like Metro Tech team up with local workforce boards like COWIB,
• 3:51
  the Central Oklahoma Workforce Innovation Board.
• 3:54
  They offer short term credential programs where tuition can be fully funded.
• 3:59
  Wait, fully funded?
• 4:02
  As in free?
• 4:03
  Free to the student, yes!
• 4:07
  We are talking targeted certificates in high demand fields that you can finish in a
• 4:12
  matter of weeks or a few months.
• 4:15
  Okay, but wait.
• 4:17
  How does someone actually survive while doing that?
• 4:20
  If you are working full time just to pay rent, how do you take weeks off for
• 4:25
  training without your budget completely collapsing?
• 4:29
  That is the cash flow gap, and it is where most people get stuck.
• 4:33
  But you build a temporary bridge.
• 4:35
  You look at quick weekend gigs, like event setup, delivery work,
• 4:40
  or seasonal assistance.
• 4:42
  Putting in an extra shift or two on a Saturday can land an immediate hundred and
• 4:46
  fifty to two hundred dollars in take home cash for the week.
• 4:50
  So that extra cash keeps the lights on while you are in class.
• 4:55
  Exactly.
• 4:56
  And you layer it with community resources.
• 4:59
  For example, the Community Action Agency of Oklahoma City offers utility assistance
• 5:04
  programs for families bridging a gap.
• 5:06
  Combining that support with a quick upskilling course turns a temporary hustle into
• 5:12
  long term stability.
• 5:14
  Man, that makes so much sense.
• 5:16
  I actually heard about a woman here in OKC, working customer service for sixteen an
• 5:20
  hour.
• 5:21
  She signed up for an evening trade certification through a local program,
• 5:25
  wrapped it up in two months, and walked straight into an operations coordinator job
• 5:30
  making twenty five dollars an hour.
• 5:32
  That is nine dollars more an hour.
• 5:35
  That is almost nineteen thousand dollars a year in extra income.
• 5:41
  That changes everything.
• 5:43
  It completely changes the game.
• 5:46
  So if you are listening right now and feeling stuck, do not just send out resume
• 5:51
  number fifty one online tonight.
• 5:54
  Do one concrete thing before the end of the day.
• 5:58
  Pull up the OESC events calendar or look up Metro Tech's course catalog.
• 6:03
  Just check out what is happening in person.
• 6:06
  Take five minutes, see who is hiring near you, and make the appointment.
• 6:11
  The boom is real, you just have to step into the room where it is happening.
• 6:16
  Alright, good stuff.
• 6:18
  Talk to you next time.