Richard Cordray, director of the CFPB, speaks during a panel discussion in 2015. Photo: Steve Helber / Associated Press
Ohio governor candidates Richard Cordray and Mike DeWine will be speaking with high school students and young adults about education, jobs and the future of work in Ohio during a live forum in Cleveland on October 4.
On May 29, Cordray said he would propose hiring a small business chief to help companies with permits and low-interest loans. He also said he wouldn’t eliminate JobsOhio, the economic development nonprofit created under Republican Gov. John Kasich, but said he might “shift some direction on it.”
The information was collected from Richard Corday’s campaign website on September 13, 2018. The candidate’s position on the topic may have changed since this date.
Workforce Development
Better Skills, Better Jobs
Today’s economy is constantly shifting and the pace of change is accelerating. We must prepare our current and future workforce with the education and training they need to successfully shift with it. Over the next decade, employers across the state will post 1.6 million job openings and, in order for Ohio families to benefit from those jobs, we must empower Ohioans with the skills they will need to thrive. Nearly two-thirds of those jobs will require some form of education or skills training beyond high school.
Right now, Ohio has more open jobs than people who can fill them. It’s not for lack of trying – most people want very much to work. But if we don’t chart a new path, by 2025, almost 2 million Ohioans will lack the training needed to fill current, evolving, and future jobs. This skills gap is hurting both employers and employees alike. Businesses need workers with the right skills, and workers need new opportunities to support their families with good-paying jobs that secure their foothold in the middle class.
College is one path to the middle class – but not the only path. Whether they are just starting a career or transferring skills to a new path later in life, all Ohioans should have the freedom to make the educational choices that are best for them – whether that means four years of college, a two-year degree, vocational school, apprenticeships, certifications, or some other more flexible form of skills training.
Strengthening Ohio’s workforce is perhaps the most pressing economic challenge we face as a state. The costs of inaction are high. Companies have made clear that they will grow and locate only where they are confident they can hire talented and skilled employees. Meanwhile, workers cannot risk spending their time and money on training or education that will not lead to a good-paying job. Without addressing the skills shortage, the full economic potential of our people and our communities will remain unfulfilled.
Our workforce development plan will ensure that every Ohioan has the skills they need to enter an increasingly competitive labor force and support themselves and their families. We will connect workers to training in our fastest-growing industries: health care, education, construction, advanced manufacturing, and computer systems. The Cordray-Sutton administration will close the skills gap in a way that makes sense for Ohio, building a workforce ready for the kinds of good-paying jobs that will be available today and tomorrow.