The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and Oklahoma Employment and Training Issuance (OETI) #09-2005 require each local workforce board to periodically determine “demand occupations,” demand skills and targeted industry clusters in the local board’s workforce investment area and to maintain a “Demand Occupations List.”
The demand occupations selected by the South Central Oklahoma Workforce Board (SCOWB) are subsequently used in qualifying individuals who select approved training programs directly linked to employment opportunities in the South Central Oklahoma Workforce Investment Area (SCOWIA). This procedure provides guidance to the SCOWB staff, WIOA Title I service provider staff, and Workforce Oklahoma Partners on selecting appropriate training programs targeted to the area’s demand occupations which best serve the needs of businesses and job seeking customers using the Workforce Investment System The demand occupations identified by SCOWB are those determined to have high potential for sustained demand and/or growth in the area and support targeted industry.
SCOWB is also required to establish the demand skills that are necessary to qualify for these demand occupations and will in all likelihood reward job seekers in terms of job placement, higher wages, fewer incidents of unemployment, and an overall improved quality of life. This policy outlines the methodology used to determine these skills for SCOWIA.
The current State of Oklahoma policy limits the use of WIOA funds to training for demand occupations within targeted industries. SCOWB has identified the Targeted Industry Clusters contained here that “drive the economic engine” of the area. This information will assist SCOWB in its identification of suitable training programs which provide training for the demand occupations in these industry clusters.