20
THE FUTURE OF
The Future of Oklahoma’s Workforce Many industry sectors are still suffering through post-pandemic workforce shortages, and newerto-Oklahoma industries like film production are ramping up need for employees as well. Workforce development centers are adapting to bring new skilled labor to Oklahoma, but gaps remain. BY GREG HORTON
sufficient workforce for two large-scale, concurrent film productions. But Matt Payne, co-CEO and co-founder of Prairie Surf Media, the state’s largest film production studio, said that crew is still coming in from all over the United States to supplement the workforce shortage in the film industry. “We’re bringing them in from California, Georgia, Texas, and Louisiana mainly,” Payne said, “and we need them in every department.” Large-scale productions like “Tulsa King,” the current Taylor Sheridan project that features Sylvester Stallone, can require as many as 400 crew members, and relatively smaller projects, like “Reagan,” the biopic featuring Dennis Quaid in the title role, need up to 200 crew. Given that Oklahoma is new to the major production landscape, it’s no surprise that we have workforce shortages. The lack of skilled and unskilled workers is a common subject post-COVID, beginning with hospitality. Keith Paul, president and founder of A Good Egg Dining Group (Cheever’s, Tucker’s, The Drake, etc.), said staffing continues to be a major problem in restaurants. “We hired 200 people in the last six months, and we’ve lost 100,” Paul said. “As a company, though, we’re only about 30 people short. I’ve seen others as short as 10 people per restaurant. So the problem isn’t as critical for us, but it’s still there.” According to data from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the 10 sectors that needed the most employees posted a total of 54,717 job openings in the first half of 2022. Those 10 sectors include more than 1,500 employers, among them hospitals, which had 10,606 postings and 109 employers competing, with an average of 97 vacancies per employer. Full-service restaurants posted 4,378 openings with 250 employers competing, an average of O K L A H O M A C U R R E N T LY H AS
