Why Oklahoma’s Workforce is a Lot Like ‘The Office’

• Joe Wertz
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  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

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Job-wise, the Sooner State might make a good stand-in for a certain Pennsylvania paper company.

Office and administrative support occupations are the No. 1 employment category in Oklahoma, according to 2010 estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In fact, there’s a good chance you’re reading this from your office job right now.

More than 257,000 Oklahomans — or about 17 percent of the workforce — have office-related jobs, a expansive employment category that includes straightforward titles like clerks, secretaries and customer service representatives, as well as more esoteric occupations like gaming cage workers, meter readers and emergency dispatchers.

Sales-related jobs — you know, the Dwight Schrutes — are the second biggest employment category in Oklahoma, followed by food preparation and serving, the data show.