To start, reauthorizing WIOA and increasing support for community colleges and registered apprenticeship programs in the current system would lead to improved access and outcomes. Lawmakers should also continue to work toward a cradle-to-career approach to preschool through postsecondary education and workforce development that ensures students have the skills and training necessary to successfully transition into the labor market. Looking ahead, policymakers should consider the importance of sustainable funding and establish a national workforce trust to fund workforce development for more Americans. Lastly, employers across industries report challenges in hiring for in-demand jobs and for jobs in critical sectors, so lawmakers should target workforce interventions to address these acute needs that benefit workers and employers alike.
Building on a strong labor foundation
Lawmakers have a strong foundation of job growth and prosperity to work from that was established by the successes of the Biden-Harris administration and the leadership of the 118th Congress. These accomplishments include historic economic investments from the American Rescue Plan Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, among other legislative wins. The Biden-Harris administration also made significant investments in registered apprenticeship programs, higher education, K-12 education, and other parts of the United States’ education and workforce system.
Workforce development has emerged as a central aim of policymakers in the education and workforce space of the current Congress. Already, lawmakers have suggested that they may revisit a reauthorization of WIOA, which had bipartisan support and momentum in the 118th Congress. Linda McMahon, the newly confirmed secretary of education, has expressed broad interest in apprenticeships and workforce development. Former U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), who served on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and is the current nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Labor, would have direct oversight over a majority of workforce development programs, including WIOA.
Policymakers should avoid misguided policies and instead proceed with those that are evidence based and proven to increase employment. Congressional Republicans have indicated a desire to attach and expand work requirements for social safety net programs in the name of workforce development, despite a preponderance of evidence that work requirements create administrative burdens and increase costs while failing to increase employment. Furthermore, as Congress works through the budget reconciliation process, preserving funding and investments made in training and education programs will be critical to continue working toward these goals.
How Congress can help students and workers advance in the workforce
As the 119th Congress ramps up, here are six ways that policymakers can help better connect workers and students with good jobs and meet the demands of employers and the economy.
1. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, signed into law in 2014, is the primary federal legislation that funds and authorizes the nation’s public workforce development system. WIOA was passed with the goal of better connecting workers with opportunities in the labor market, including workers who face barriers to employment. It has been due for reauthorization since 2020 and has since been funded through temporary extensions in annual appropriations.
As Congress revisits last year’s bipartisan reauthorization efforts, policymakers should be guided by principles for a reauthorization that creates good jobs that grow the American middle class and lead to economic mobility. It should also encourage fair pay, take a sectoral approach to training programs, provide supportive services, increase access for workers with barriers to employment, promote skills attainment and career advancement mechanisms, prioritize evidence-based decision-making and accountability, and align with adjacent and existing programs.
2. National workforce trust
The federal workforce system cannot function effectively and at the scale needed without adequate funding. Since 2015, the value of funding for WIOA has not kept pace with the size and evolution of the U.S. economy, inflation and population growth, or even just with inflation. The current funding level for the employment and training services portion of WIOA is approximately $400 million to $1 billion short when accounting for these economic measures. Overall, the United States has underinvested in workforce development for decades: It spends just one-fifth of the average that other advanced economies spend on workforce and labor market programs.
One idea for a mechanism to establish robust and sustainable funding for workforce development is for the U.S. government to establish a national workforce trust to sustainably fund training and education programs into the future. With the requirement for employers of a certain size to pay into it, the trust would increase the amount of resources available for training and employment. Creating a structure for cost sharing between the private sector and the government for training and educating workers is especially important since employers have been reducing investments in worker training in the past few decades.
3. Community colleges
Community and technical colleges provide a significant share of worker and student training. As Congress looks at workforce development policies, a reauthorization of WIOA and other legislative efforts should prioritize alignment between higher education and the U.S. workforce system, as well as provide dedicated funding for community and technical colleges. More dual enrollment options between secondary schools and community colleges could help achieve these goals.
Community colleges have a strong track record of responding to local and regional needs and evolving to adapt to a changing economy, and they are well positioned to provide training at the scale needed to prepare students and workers, especially for in-demand jobs in critical sectors.
4. Youth employment and cradle-to-career pathways
Policymakers can leverage college and career readiness strategies to further cradle-to-career pathways in the U.S. education and workforce system. Investing in young people benefits both them and the economy as a whole—and it pays off in dividends. Early labor market success is linked with better outcomes for young adults, and these opportunities can lead to greater economic mobility, lifetime earnings, and health outcomes, among other measures.
Specifically, there are a variety of ways to support the next generation of workers through WIOA. Investing in pre-apprenticeship and registered apprenticeship programs can benefit those starting out in the labor market. Continuing to align WIOA programs and services with other education and training opportunities for youth—such as career and technical education, work-based learning, and other pathways—can engage youth earlier and expose them to a range of career options.
WIOA is well equipped to serve youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither in school nor working since it includes WIOA Youth, YouthBuild, and Jobs Corps—all of which target young people who experience significant barriers to employment. One option for lawmakers is to create a dedicated federal funding stream to subsidize the wages of summer and year-round youth employment programs, which are proven to increase incomes, teach essential skills, and decrease the likelihood that young people end up in the criminal legal system.
5. In-demand and critical sectors
Policymakers in Congress can look to states to see how they are adapting to high demand in certain fields and critical sectors to increase the labor supply. Communities who are experiencing shortages of educators, health care workers, and other essential workers have begun to implement more pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs and establish partnerships with community colleges and labor organizations to build more robust pipelines in these sectors.
The CHIPS and Science Act, passed in the 117th Congress, includes workforce development funding to train students and workers for semiconductor manufacturing and related fields. Building on this, lawmakers in the new Congress should prioritize similar investments in other sectors critical for U.S. national security and global competitiveness objectives such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, critical minerals, maritime, and advanced manufacturing. They should also ensure that any legislation includes dedicated workforce development funding.
The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, which provided benefits and support for workers affected by trade, was allowed to expire by the 117th Congress, should also be revived and leveraged for job training and services, especially since many who qualify for TAA have existing manufacturing and related skills that could be relevant to other in-demand positions.
6. Registered apprenticeships
Registered apprenticeship programs are a proven high-quality earn-and-learn model that lead to high-paying jobs in fields such as manufacturing, construction, and carpentry. Today, there are more than 600,000 apprentices in programs across the country, with registered apprenticeships gaining renewed interest as a workforce development and educational tool to train workers and fill openings. State and local governments are increasingly turning to apprenticeships as a way to fill demand for workers and provide pathways to the middle class, including for those without a college degree.
However, the United States invests considerably less than some developed countries in apprenticeships, and Congress should work to remedy this underinvestment in pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs. Another avenue to bolster apprenticeships is through community colleges, which have been shown to effectively develop and scale apprenticeship programs. Lastly, efforts by some congressional Republicans to undermine the tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes apprenticeship utilization requirements, could set back expansion of these programs.
Of note, Project 2025 includes a proposal to revive a problematic policy of the first Trump administration called the Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Program (IRAP), which was reversed by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2021. The IRAP model sought to eliminate and weaken quality standards and worker protections for apprenticeship programs, including by assigning oversight authority to third-party industry groups. As Congress looks to the registered apprenticeship system as an opportunity to expand career options for more Americans, lawmakers should avoid the pitfalls and issues evident in the IRAP model.
Conclusion
The goal of America’s workforce development system should be to train and connect students and workers with good jobs that provide family-sustaining wages while promoting economic mobility and U.S. global competitiveness. As the 119th Congress turns its attention to education and workforce, policymakers have a crucial opportunity to reimagine the U.S. workforce development system to prepare the next generation of students and workers for a better future.