As employers face labor shortages, Biden administration rolls out playbook for training workers

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration on Friday is predicted to unlock a playbook on very best practices for training workers because the low 3.8% unemployment charge and years of underinvestment have left producers, building companies and different employers with unfilled jobs.

Worker shortages were a frustration for some employers, who upped their investments in new factories and building tasks after President Joe Biden signed into regulation investment for infrastructure, computer chips and a shift towards renewable energy sources. Finding staff to replace retirees additionally has develop into a problem.

As a part of the 2021 pandemic rescue package, state and native governments have dedicated $11 billion to employee training. The cash should be spent through the top of 2026 and the administration is attempting to make sure the investments repay as promised.

“This is an opportunity to make a once-in-a-generation funding within the talents and well-being of workers for your communities — an funding that can reap advantages way past pandemic restoration,” Treasury Department official Veronica Soto says in draft remarks obtained by The Associated Press.

The eight-page playbook being issued in conjunction with the remarks details possible models that the administration believes state and local governments can follow.

The document encourages them to use registered apprenticeship programs, which have seen enrollment more than double over the past decade to 607,509 active apprentices, according to the Labor Department. Starting salaries for those who complete the programs average $80,000.

Harris County, Texas, committed $10.9 million to place 1,000 of its low-income residents into union apprenticeships and technology training programs, having put a focus on opportunities for women, people of color and those without a four-year college degree. The state of Maine plans to double its total number of apprenticeships with $11 billion.

Funding also has gone to community colleges, with Oklahoma budgeting $80 million to expand its nursing education programs. Connecticut is using $19.5 million to improve the mentorship and coaching given to community college students, a program that has increased students’ grades and kept more of them enrolled.

Money additionally goes to supportive services and products for kid care and transportation, which can be two of the large the explanation why individuals are not able to finish training or keep at the activity. Iowa is making $26.6 million to be had to lend a hand employers make kid care to be had, whilst Phoenix’s airport is providing kid care scholarships to workers.