Future of Work Study

The Ohio Education and Research Center at The Ohio State University's John Glenn College of Public Affairs will begin research to identify skills needed for careers of tomorrow. Sponsored by the Workforce Development Board of Central Ohio, Smart Columbus and the United Way of Central Ohio, OERC will research future employment opportunities for central Ohio residents in industries related to intelligent transportation systems, electrification, internet of things, financial services and healthcare. It will also address the skills needed to fill those jobs, and gaps in current local training programs. Kickoff of the research program was held at SMART Columbus' office on Thursday, May 9, 2019.

“Transformative change happening in the mobility industry has the potential to help our residents get to work more reliable and affordable. It also has the potential to create more jobs in our region,” said Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther. “This research is an important component of the Smart Columbus initiative that will help us create training opportunities to give our residents the skills they need to thrive in a changing world and workforce.”

OERC has partnered with Regionomics and Essentia Strategy Group to provide additional research identifying current and future gaps between the supply of qualified workers required to meet the employment needs of area businesses.

The OERC team will consist of Josh Hawley, principal investigator; Julie Maurer, project manager; Kristin Harlow, research associate and Lina Osorio Copete, research associate. Consultants on the team are Bill LaFayette from Regionomics, Sarah Lee and Y’Nesha Schaffer both from the Essentia Strategy Group.

The Future of Work research is funded through the Smart Cities Challenge grant awarded to the City of Columbus by the Paul G. Allen Philanthropies, United Way of Central Ohio, and the Workforce Development Board of Central Ohio. Findings from the report are slated to be released in late fall.