Ohio’s Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Dislocated Worker Program helps laid-off workers obtain new jobs with comparable wages. Addressing the needs of these workers helps minimize the disruption of job transition on their own lives as well as that of their families and communities. 

 A dislocated worker is any adult 18 years and older who:

- Has been terminated or laid off, or has received a notice of termination or layoff.

- Is eligible for, or has exhausted entitlement to unemployment compensation; or has been employed for a duration sufficient to demonstrate attachment to the workforce, but is not eligible for unemployment compensation, and is unlikely to return to a previous industry or occupation; or

- Has been terminated or laid off, or has received a notice of termination or layoff from employment as a result of a permanent closure of, or any substantial layoff, at a plant, facility, or enterprise; or

It's Working!

During the last program year, Ohio served 2,848 dislocated workers including veterans, individuals with disabilities, older workers, and displaced homemakers.

Dislocated workers who participated in WIOA training services earned 798 credentials and degrees; 76.6% of the dislocated workers
who found jobs were still employed nine months after exiting the program.

An emphasis of the program is to increase the employment, retention, and earnings of dislocated workers by increasing their work readiness, educational attainment, and occupational skills and by connecting them to jobs in demand. 

For more information about these services, contact or visit your closest OhioMeansJobs center.

Last reviewed: 01/10/2023