Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future
This executive order directs federal agencies to reshape and align U.S. workforce development efforts to support reindustrialization and growth in high‑paying skilled trades and related occupations. It requires the Departments of Labor, Commerce, and Education to review existing federal workforce programs, propose reforms (including consolidation and elimination where programs are ineffective), and produce plans to expand Registered Apprenticeships and improve transparency on program outcomes. The stated aim is to get more Americans into employer‑needed jobs by emphasizing apprenticeships, alternative credentials, upskilling (including use of artificial intelligence), and better measurement of results. If implemented, the order could shift federal spending and program priorities toward employer‑driven skills, expand apprenticeship opportunities, strengthen links between education and on‑the‑job training, and increase public data on employment and earnings outcomes. Implementation depends on existing law and available appropriations and does not itself create new individual legal rights.
Key Points
- 1Federal review and strategy (90 days): The Secretaries of Labor, Commerce, and Education must review all federal workforce development programs and submit a strategy to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and the OMB Director. The review must identify opportunities to integrate systems, realign resources, and recommend administrative and programmatic reforms.
- 2Identify ineffective programs: Agencies must list workforce and education programs (or related spending) that are ineffective, and for each propose reform, redirection of funds, or elimination.
- 3Expand Registered Apprenticeships (120 days): Agencies must produce a plan to reach and exceed 1 million new active apprentices, including expanding apprenticeships into new industries, scaling the model nationally, improving program efficiency and participant supports, and strengthening connections with education (e.g., Perkins V career and technical education and federal student aid).
- 4Emphasize upskilling, AI, and alternative credentials: The review must identify opportunities to upskill incumbent workers (including workplace uses of artificial intelligence), and recommend alternative credentials and assessments to traditional 4‑year degrees that map to employer skill needs.
- 5Transparency and measurement reforms: Agencies must improve transparency on performance (employment and earnings outcomes) for federally supported workforce programs and credentials, harmonize performance measures, reduce reporting burdens on grantees, and use reliable data sources.