Dive Brief:
- Two new U.S. government initiatives announced last week are targeting workforce gaps in an effort to create career opportunities and expand critical infrastructure sectors.
- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation announced on July 8 that five organizations will be given grants to help connect students and employers in regionally relevant fields across the country in order to “help more students connect their education to real career opportunities.”
- In addition, on July 7 the U.S. Department of Labor awarded nearly $162 million via five cooperative agreements in an effort to expand Registered Apprenticeships “in the occupations critical for the administration’s reindustrialization agenda,” including the shipbuilding, defense industrial base and emerging technology sectors.
Dive Insight:
These initiatives are collectively intended to help fill skill gaps that the government and business sector see as essential to the industrial future of the U.S.
“There’s a real mismatch in this country,” U.S. Chamber Foundation President Michael Carney said in a statement. “Employers can’t find the workers they need, and young people can’t find a clear path to the workforce. These groups are closing that gap. They’re putting employers in the same room as educators and students and building the kind of real-world experience that turns a classroom into a launchpad.”
The organizations chosen by the Chamber of Commerce Foundation will be tasked with giving students “access to real employers, industry credentials, and hands-on experience.” Groups were chosen from regions where specific market needs were deemed especially acute. Those include Colorado Succeeds, which targets construction and skilled trades in the Denver metro area, as well as the San Diego Regional Economic Development Foundation, which will partner with companies in the region “to identify the AI-related skills needed for entry-level jobs.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor’s Pay-for-Performance Incentive Payments Program funded programs “in industries with a firmly established Registered Apprenticeship program infrastructure.”
Recipients of the DOL awards include a Florida Department of Commerce program focused on the defense industrial base, shipbuilding and maritime manufacturing sectors; a Jobs for the Future initiative designed to support growth in the artificial intelligence, semiconductor and nuclear energy industries; an expansion effort spearheaded by the Wireless Infrastructure Association; an information technology program run by the Trustees of Clark University; and a program run by the ASE Foundation designed to expand automotive and truck service technician apprenticeships.
“President Trump challenged us to expand Registered Apprenticeship programs that deliver real results for American workers and businesses, and that is exactly what this program does,” Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling said in a statement. “We are putting taxpayer dollars to work where they matter most, creating real jobs, real skills, and real opportunities in the industries that will define America’s future economic competitiveness.”