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The U.S. Departments of Education, Labor (DOL), and Commerce released a joint plan last week for workforce development, titled 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Talent Strategy: Building the Workforce for the Golden Age.鈥� The plan aims to reshape the current workforce system and is based on five 鈥渟trategic pillars鈥�: 1) industry-driven strategies, 2) worker mobility, 3) integrated systems, 4) accountability, and 5) flexibility and innovation.

The plan reiterates the administration鈥檚 goal of expanding the Registered Apprenticeship Program to one million apprenticeships, as was stated in an Executive Order earlier this year. DOL will make it easier for new apprenticeship programs to be approved and will require competitive grantees to meet goals for the number of individuals placed in apprenticeship programs. The administration also plans to integrate all components of the workforce system to ensure clear pathways to employment, including career and technical education, pre-apprenticeships, youth workforce programs, and registered apprenticeships. The administration also proposes an 鈥淚ndustry Skills Training Fund鈥� that that will provide training for high-demand jobs and suggests seeking voluntary redeployment of workers to fill higher-need roles. The plan suggests incorporating AI and other technologies into the career navigation and training parts of the workforce system. 

The plan also states that the President will work with Congress to try and consolidate workforce programs, either through WIOA reauthorization or fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations, in alignment with the FY 2026 President鈥檚 budget request released earlier this year. Additionally, the plan discusses paring down reporting requirements and considers reforms to program performance evaluation. Although the plan includes proposals for some significant changes to workforce development programs, many portions of the plan are already allowable under federal programs, such as career exploration in the middle grades, which can be supported under the current Perkins career and technical education program.

Many of these proposals would require Congressional action, which may be difficult to pass under the slim majorities in the House and Senate. While a bipartisan WIOA reauthorization bill was almost passed last December, more significant and controversial changes to the workforce system will face greater challenges in Congress.

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