Then-Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, Gov. Mike DeWine joined by politicians and business leaders break ground ceremony for Intel’s new semiconductor manufacturing site, September 9, 2022, in Licking County, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for the Ohio Capital Journal / Republish photo only with original story)
Ohio’s workers have seen a lot of changes in the last 25 years, according to a recent report by a state policy think tank, but those changes haven’t always been good for them.
Policies have favored “loopholes for the wealthiest and corporations, instead of policies that build the economy from the middle-out and bottom-up,” Policy Matters Ohio Researcher Heather Smith wrote in this year’s analysis.
In Policy Matters Ohio’s latest State of Working Ohio report, researchers review the last quarter-century in honor of the think tank’s founding.
The first State of Working Ohio report in 1999 showed a falling median wage, and workers who were producing more but being paid less than their parents in the previous 20 years.
Since 1999, the economy for workers in Ohio has shown disparities for men and women, people of color, and people of different education levels.
For instance, Black Ohioans saw the highest unemployment rates of any group in the state last year, an increase of nearly 4%.
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Compared to 1999, the average Ohio worker does see more than $4 more in inflation-adjusted wages, and unemployment was the same in 2024 as it was in 1999, at 4.3%.
However, the employed population share dropped from 64% to 59.9% in the last 25 years, according to Policy Matters data.
The 2025 report attributed a focus from elected leaders on “‘business-friendly’ policies” as a reason for many of the changes to the economic outlook for Ohio workers, particularly a loss of opportunities for working Ohioans over the decades.
In 1981, the Economic Recovery Tax Act was passed by a Republican U.S. Senate, a Democratic U.S. House, and signed by President Ronald Reagan, which included tax cuts for high income levels.
In 1993, the North American Free Trade Agreement was passed in Congress with most Republicans voting yes and Democrats deeply divided, and signed by President Bill Clinton, which led to outsourcing of jobs.
The report stated those policy choices, among others, hit directly at Ohio’s manufacturing industry, with the number of jobs in that sector decreasing by more than 30%.
“Between 2005 and 2019, General Motors moved or eliminated an estimated 8,245 jobs in favor of cheaper imports and low-wage foreign labor, harming thousands of workers in Lordstown alone,” Smith wrote in the report.
In the present day, Smith argued in the report, “Ohio’s leaders are now banking on mega-development deals to grow our economy, diverting resources to incentivize corporate investments, with a reckless disregard for accountability.”
“Headlines and some politicians over the last several years have championed these deals as signs Ohio is on the rebound,” the report stated. “However, the data show job growth and recession recovery has been concentrated in two regions in Ohio, and largely in central Ohio.”
The report referenced the Intel plan in Jersey Township, a semiconductor manufacturing project which has been delayed several times by the corporation.
Ohio Republican U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno even called for a fraud investigation against the company because of the delays.
President Donald Trump blamed the struggles of the company on “bad management” as he announced a $9 billion investment to give the federal government a 10% stake in the company.
The Jersey Township plant was expected to be completed this year, but has now been set for a completion date in the 2030s.
