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From 18 to 28: OKC Jobs Without the Debt · The 405 Payroll

• 0:14
  Man, my coffee is, uh, completely cold.
• 0:18
  Like ice.
• 0:21
  You have been staring at your phone for ten minutes, Miles.
• 0:24
  What are you looking at?
• 0:26
  No, I, I, I was looking at job postings online for OKC.
• 0:30
  And it is, uh, it's brutal out there on the main job boards.
• 0:35
  It looks like nobody is hiring, or if they are, it's just endless resume black
• 0:40
  holes.
• 0:41
  See, that is the weird disconnect right now.
• 0:45
  If you only look at the big public job sites, it feels totally flat.
• 0:50
  But the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber just put out numbers showing 113 company
• 0:56
  expansion projects coming into the area.
• 0:59
  That is over 3,400 new jobs with an average salary around 60,700 dollars.
• 1:07
  Wait, wait, 60,000?
• 1:10
  Where are those jobs?
• 1:12
  Because they are definitely not sitting on the standard search engines.
• 1:16
  Because companies are completely bypassing those portals!
• 1:20
  They are hiring directly through state level events, like the Oklahoma Employment
• 1:24
  Security Commission, or OESC, hiring fairs.
• 1:28
  They want warm bodies in front of them, not an algorithm sorting through 500 PDFs.
• 1:34
  Right, right.
• 1:36
  Like, uh, direct hire stuff.
• 1:38
  I was actually looking at one of those OESC listings earlier.
• 1:42
  Walmart has logistics and fulfillment roles in the metro starting at,
• 1:46
  what was it, 16.00 to 18.50 an hour?
• 1:49
  And they are doing actual walk in interviews.
• 1:52
  You show up, you talk to a human, you get an offer.
• 1:56
  Exactly.
• 1:57
  On the spot hiring.
• 1:59
  Man, that brings me back.
• 2:02
  When I was doing morning radio, waking up at four in the morning,
• 2:05
  pulling crazy split shifts...
• 2:08
  I remember when I got my first steady hourly gig that had predictable pay and a set
• 2:13
  schedule.
• 2:14
  The sheer relief of knowing, okay, this exact amount is hitting my bank account next
• 2:20
  Friday.
• 2:22
  That security is real.
• 2:24
  It is real!
• 2:25
  But, okay, let us press on that for a second.
• 2:28
  Because 18 dollars an hour in Oklahoma City is...
• 2:32
  look, it pays the rent today.
• 2:34
  But is taking an 18 dollar shift in a warehouse actual stability,
• 2:39
  or does it risk becoming a wage ceiling?
• 2:42
  How do you mean?
• 2:43
  Well, if you get comfortable at 18 an hour, you are working 40,
• 2:48
  50 hours a week, you are tired...
• 2:51
  it is very easy to get stuck there for three years, five years,
• 2:55
  while inflation eats away at your buying power.
• 2:59
  Sure, but if you are making 12 an hour right now or driving gig work where you do
• 3:05
  not even know if you are making rent next week, jumping to 18 an hour immediately
• 3:11
  gives you breathing room!
• 3:13
  You, you, you cannot plan a long term career move if your hair is on fire today.
• 3:19
  I agree with that!
• 3:20
  You take the hiring fair job to put out the immediate fire.
• 3:24
  The key is treating that 18 dollar role as a launchpad, not the final destination.
• 3:30
  Yeah.
• 3:31
  Step one, secure the floor.
• 3:33
  Step two, look at the next step.
• 3:36
  And step two is where people usually get stuck, right?
• 3:40
  Because people think, okay, to go from 18 an hour to 25 or 28 an hour,
• 3:46
  I have to go get a four year degree and take on 30,000 dollars in student loans.
• 3:51
  But that is just not true here.
• 3:54
  Wait, so how do you bridge that gap without debt?
• 3:57
  Have you looked closely at Metro Tech's EMPOWER program?
• 4:02
  Metro Tech?
• 4:03
  I mean, I know the campuses, but what is EMPOWER specifically?
• 4:08
  So EMPOWER is designed specifically for career transitions.
• 4:13
  And here is the huge thing, tuition assistance and financial support may be
• 4:18
  available for eligible individuals through a grant provided through Oklahoma Human
• 4:22
  Services.
• 4:23
  Hold on, a grant through state human services?
• 4:27
  So it covers tuition?
• 4:29
  Tuition, materials, support.
• 4:33
  We are talking short term skill credentials, like 6 to 12 weeks,
• 4:37
  in fields like HVAC, phlebotomy, or getting your commercial driver license,
• 4:42
  your CDL.
• 4:43
  Wow.
• 4:44
  6 to 12 weeks?
• 4:46
  6 to 12 weeks!
• 4:49
  And those certifications jump you straight into roles paying 22 to 28 dollars an
• 4:54
  hour in this local market.
• 4:57
  Wait, so you go from 18 an hour at the fulfillment center to 26 an hour doing HVAC
• 5:04
  service work, and you do not owe a dime in student debt at the end of it?
• 5:10
  That is the playbook.
• 5:11
  But you have to stack it smart.
• 5:14
  While you are in that 6 to 12 week training window, you also have to protect your
• 5:18
  cash flow.
• 5:20
  Right, because if you miss a light bill while going to class,
• 5:23
  the late fees crush you.
• 5:25
  Exactly.
• 5:27
  You pair the Metro Tech training with resources from the Community Action Agency of
• 5:31
  Oklahoma County.
• 5:33
  They offer utility assistance, emergency relief, and even free financial coaching.
• 5:39
  It stops the cash leaks so you actually retain the money you are earning while
• 5:43
  upskilling.
• 5:45
  Man.
• 5:46
  If someone told me ten years ago that you could layer state grants for trade school
• 5:51
  with local utility support and literally change your income bracket in three
• 5:56
  months...
• 5:57
  I mean, nobody teaches you this stuff in school.
• 6:01
  No, they do not.
• 6:03
  People think they have to suffer through years of debt or just stay stuck.
• 6:09
  So, okay, if someone is listening to this right now in OKC,
• 6:13
  sitting in their car or on a break at a low paying job, what is the immediate move
• 6:18
  today?
• 6:19
  Set a 10 minute timer on your phone right now.
• 6:23
  Before you go to bed tonight, spend those 10 minutes doing two things.
• 6:27
  First, go to Metro Tech's EMPOWER program page online and check the grant
• 6:31
  eligibility.
• 6:32
  Second, go to oklahoma.gov/oesc and look up the next direct hiring event in the
• 6:38
  metro.
• 6:39
  That is it.
• 6:40
  Ten minutes.
• 6:41
  Do not overthink it, just put it on the calendar.
• 6:45
  Because for renters and workers in OKC, building real financial momentum is not
• 6:51
  about waiting for a magic offer to land in your inbox.
• 6:55
  It is about grabbing the fast pay jump today, and using the state resources right in
• 7:01
  front of you to build permanent wealth tomorrow.
• 7:04
  Alright.
• 7:05
  I am gonna go buy a fresh cup of coffee and set my timer.
• 7:11
  Good plan, Miles.
• 7:12
  Talk to you next time.