Opinion: Big Talk but Short Shrift from Trump Administration on Workforce Development
The Trump administration has made workforce and education a high-profile issue. Recent efforts include last week’s inaugural meeting of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, support for last year’s passage of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, and a focus on creating a new industry-recognized apprenticeship system.
Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, the administration’s apparent enthusiasm for skills training and workforce development isn’t matched with the kind of robust investments needed to support diverse training programs — services that work. Instead of investing at appropriate levels, the president’s budget proposal calls for deep cuts and/or elimination of many workforce and education programs, but Congress can reverse this.
A central reason why businesses continue to struggle to find workers is because the U.S. has not invested in critical workforce and education programs at levels necessary for workers to develop the skills necessary to access — and succeed in — these jobs.