About the Oklahoma Workforce Commission
Developing public and private partnerships with the business community to ensure business leaders are involved in developing and implementing the Oklahoma's new workforce system.
Mission
The Oklahoma Workforce Commission is the primary entity tasked with coordinating and aligning workforce development activities throughout the state to grow Oklahoma’s economy and Oklahomans’ prosperity. The Commission is empowered to coordinate the activities of each element of the state’s workforce development programs, systems and entities to achieve better alignment, accountability and outcomes. The Commission serves as the single point of contact regarding workforce development to public officials, businesses and the public.
The Oklahoma Workforce Commission was established through the Oklahoma Workforce Transformation Act (Senate Bill 621) to be the centralized coordinating entity for workforce development across the state. The Commission is responsible for setting the strategic vision for Oklahoma’s workforce development ecosystem, built on rigorous analysis of economic needs, forward looking trends and continuous feedback from ecosystem partners.
While every state wrestles to overcome workforce challenges, Oklahoma is taking bold and innovative action to address communication, transparency and accountability issues that have long stifled communities across the country. The Workforce Commission aims to coordinate partners and services in a way most effective and efficient for the citizens of Oklahoma. As a public private partnership, the Commission leads the way to ensure every Oklahoman has access to high-quality opportunities and employers have a robust, skilled workforce ready to fill their talent pipelines.
By producing a public workforce effectiveness dashboard, the Commission will create transparency for all to objectively understand the funding being invested in this work across the state and the real outcomes and impact. Oklahoma aims to create a new model for interagency collaboration around a critical topic ensuring we can invest smartly in the projects that are successful and clearly identify those that are not.
Each year the Oklahoma Workforce Commission will deliver:
- Oklahoma Workforce Priority List – An annual publishing of the most pressing and impactful initiatives we, as a state,should focus on each year with data and reasoning behind the selections.
- Oklahoma Workforce Progress Report – An annual report outlining state spending, where it is, what is the intent and how successful has the project been that year.
- Oklahoma Top Jobs List – An annual look at the key economic sectors where Oklahoma can be most successful in the race for skilled talent.
The Oklahoma Workforce Commission will work closely with the Department of Education and Department of Commerce, along with partners in K-12, higher education, CareerTech, local school districts, chambers of commerce, industry associations and employers to ensure our youngest Oklahomans are being properly prepared for the work landscape of today and the future with employers having a stronger voice than ever before in defining what that looks like here. As a body embracing innovation, the Oklahoma Workforce Commission’s membership is comprised of private sector senior leaders in key industries across the state. This provides yet another layer of transparency and public oversight of our workforce development activities. As a public-private partnership, the Oklahoma Workforce Commission also serves as a centralized place for private business and philanthropy to also invest financially in a way that provides maximum impact of those investments.
Strengthening Oklahoma for today and preparing for tomorrow, the Oklahoma Workforce Commission, along with dozens of ecosystem partners, are poised to ensure Oklahoma’s workforce and our businesses are economically thriving for decades to come.
