24-HR Emergency Service: 1-800-300-4875
24-HR Emergency Service: 1-800-300-4875
June 14, 2017
To celebrate Workforce Development Week, June 12-16, the Trump administration planned a full schedule of events as a backdrop to discuss the growing demand for skilled labor, address the need to fill six million jobs and expand apprenticeship programs across the country.
On June 12, U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta released a memorandum asking other agencies to support President Trump’s apprenticeship initiative by reducing regulations on these programs.
“In the United States, apprenticeships have languished for decades (except in construction trades, where they have remained strong),” Acosta said in the memo. “The benefits of apprenticeships are significant and measurable.”
Secretary Acosta also said in a White House press briefing that the six million job openings in America will be filled through the expansion of apprenticeships and other “private-private partnerships.”
On June 13, President Trump, Secretary Acosta, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Trump’s daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump and several private-sector leaders visited Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC) to discuss increasing access to apprenticeships and providing more options for apprenticeships to students as early as high school. ABC Wisconsin sponsors three construction apprentices programs at WCTC with more than 150 participants.
“We want a future where every high school in America offers apprenticeship opportunities for young citizens,” Trump said at the WCTC event.
Trump is also expected to sign an executive order concerning these programs, reportedly to change the certification process and relax government oversight of federally funded apprenticeship programs in order to meet the market-driven demands and workforce development needs of the private sector. Following a shooting at a Congressional baseball practice the morning of June 14, Trump cancelled an event at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), where he had planned to sign the executive order after delivering remarks to DOL staff and stakeholders.
It is unclear if the rest of the events for Workforce Development Week will be held.
To learn more about how ABC is building the people who build America, visit workforce.abc.org.
Powered by WPeMatico