Washington, D.C.
November 13, 2023
Thank you, Fatinah, for that kind introduction and also for embodying everything that we are here to celebrate and talk about. And what Registered Apprenticeships, which is the life-changing impact of a good job.
So here at the Department of Labor we know that good jobs change lives. And stories like yours and others that we’ll get to hear today and we’re here to celebrate – happy graduation day – are the reason we do what we do.
And we also know that registered apprenticeships connect employers with great talent and potential.
So many people are asking, “are we going to have the workers to do all these jobs that we’ve created across our country?” And today we celebrate and highlight answers to that question.
So thank you for sharing your story, Fatina, and for being a Trailblazer.
We have a great crowd here in the room. And I want to say one thing about the Department of Labor. So, we work in the Frances Perkins Building, and that building is named for the first woman Labor Secretary in the country. She was actually the first woman to serve in the Cabinet of any United States President. And she is the Secretary that all labor secretaries since have been measured against. And so I think it’s a powerful reminder of something that I believe deeply in, which is that diversity and excellence go hand in hand. And that’s a theme that we’re going to be talking about a lot for the rest of the day.
So to the many federal, state, local, and private-sector partners, I want to thank you for increasing youth apprenticeships and for making sure that your programs meet the needs of employers and of career seekers.
And I want to recognize all the labor leaders who are here today. Unions built the model and set the standard for Registered Apprenticeships. We’re going to be talking about the importance of a pathway to the middle class. And in President Biden’s America, we know that unions built the middle class. So thank you to the union leaders who are partners in this work and who are demonstrating every day what it takes to build America and that no one gets left behind.
And I also want to say a special welcome to our Job Corps graduates who are in the audience. Congratulations also.
So under President Biden’s leadership, we’re making historic investments in our nation’s infrastructure, in our nation’s manufacturing, in our nation’s clean energy. We’re making investments in America and also in all of America’s workers.
And a lot of our infrastructure is about building up roads and bridges, airports, waterways, and ports. And when we talk about infrastructure, I think of our workforce system as infrastructure too.
It’s the roads, the bridges, and onramps that connect people to the good jobs they want and need… and employers to the people they want and need.
And like our physical infrastructure, sometimes our workforce infrastructure – those roads and bridges – also need a little attention. Sometimes they have some cracks and some potholes in them. Sometimes those roads and bridges don’t connect to all communities the way that they should.
And so we need our workforce system to be as strong as our physical roads and bridges as we build both of those things together. And we need them to reach all communities.
This is a priority for President Biden. It’s a priority for me. It’s a priority for all of us at the Department of Labor.
And later today, you’re also going to be hearing from other folks from the White House, including President’s Domestic Policy Advisor, Neera Tanden. It’s just a sign that all this work matters to all of us in this administration, and we can’t do any of it alone.
When it comes to comes to apprenticeships when I talk about infrastructure, if the whole workforce system is roads and bridges for people, Registered Apprenticeships are the superhighways of that system.
And they’re one of the most powerful tools we have for workers to find their place in the middle class.
So let’s just look at the numbers when it comes to Registered Apprenticeship for a moment.
After completing a Registered Apprenticeship, the average starting wage is $80,000.
And workers, over the lifetime of their careers, earn an average of $300,000 more if they come through an apprenticeship than if they don’t.
Registered Apprenticeships also help employers.
It’s a way to build the skilled workforce that you need. It’s a way to create a pipeline for workers that you need. And many 90 percent of apprenticeship maintain employment after completing their program.
So it’s an investment that really pays off.
For all these reasons, the Biden-Harris Administration is making big investments – in fact $446 million worth – to modernize, diversify, and expand Registered Apprenticeships.
Now, today, I want to focus on youth and youth opportunities.
Because Registered Apprenticeship programs are a key strategy for helping young people connect – especially young women and young people of color – to good-quality, high-paying jobs.
The number of young people who are taking advantage of Registered Apprenticeships has more than doubled over the past decade. And we want to expand that even further.
So let’s take cybersecurity for example. Employers need cybersecurity experts in industries all across workplaces and all across the country. And women and people have color have actually been underrepresented in cybersecurity jobs.
So last year, we held a Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Sprint. And as a result, 194 new cybersecurity Registered Apprenticeship programs were approved or developed during that time. And over 7,000 apprentices were hired. And of those apprentices, 42 percent were people of color and 32 percent were women. And that’s much higher than their representation in the industry to begin with.
So that Sprint really showed the power of public-private partnerships, of the sector working together, to use apprenticeships to fill job vacancies and to create opportunities to increase gender and racial diversity in good jobs.
Remember, diversity and excellence go hand in hand, and registered apprenticeships help us advance both.
And that’s just one example.
This past May, we launched Select Talent USA with the Department of Commerce and the Department of Education. That initiative is building a pipeline of skilled workers to fill jobs with foreign multinational corporations, as those companies establish new – or expand their existing – operations in the United States.
These multinational companies are going to get to see America’s unique comparative advantage, which is the talent of our diverse and skilled workforce.
And it’s another example of our whole-of-government approach to create opportunities for workers in every community in our country.
The Departments of Commerce and the Department of Education have been really great partners to us in this work.
And we’re going to get to hear from both our Education Secretary Miguel Carona and our Commerce Senior Counselor Zoe Baird a little bit later today.
We’re lifting up the voices of apprentices to tell their stories and inspire others through the Department of Labor’s Apprentice Trailblazer Initiative.
Our trailblazers are not just changing their own lives. But this initiative will create a national network of diverse apprentices and apprenticeship sponsors and graduates who are going to help spread the word to expand opportunities for others.
Today I’m really thrilled to announce the selection of the first cohort of Apprentice Trailblazers and highlight some of the young people who will take part. And I’m going to ask you all to stand so everyone can see who you are when I say your name.
So you already heard the remarkable Fatinah Muhammad and about her journey. So Fatinah, please stand, and please stay standing.
One of her Trailblazing colleagues is Luis Mencias, who did a Software Engineering Apprenticeship at IBM in Durham, North Carolina. Luis is also a DACA recipient, and paying out-of-pocket for higher education would’ve been cost prohibitive for Luis. And Luis says his apprenticeship was the pathway to reaching his dream. He also said it could be hard to become a software developer at a big company like IBM, but his apprenticeship helped him defy that barrier. So Luis, welcome.
I also want to introduce Gabby Caballero. Gabby is an apprentice graduate who says that she was looking for a stable and rewarding career after high school. And at Aon in North Chicago, she feels like she’s able to showcase her unique skills and strengths.
Jacob Pedersen – during high school, Jacob struggled to connect with his classes. And as his mom, Stephanie will also attest, they both dreaded parent-teacher conferences. But in his junior and senior year of high school, Jacob found an apprenticeship program. He earned credits toward graduation as an advanced manufacturing apprentice, while also earning a paycheck.
Jacob saw what an apprenticeship did for him and now he’s giving that back to more students just like him. Today, he’s back at his former school district where he helps students get into internships and apprenticeships – and, in Jacob’s words, “take their future into their own hands.” So thank you very much, Jacob, for sharing your journey and for helping others take control of theirs.
All of these stories are very inspiring. And I want to thank all of our new Trailblazers, as well as their Registered Apprenticeship sponsors and their very proud parents. I’m sure, Stephanie, you think differently now when you sit down to talk to anybody about your son.
Under President Biden’s “Investing in America” agenda, we are investing in America’s young people.
I said that today – and Brent said this at the beginning – that we are launching National Apprenticeship Week. But next year, we are also going to launch our first National Youth Apprenticeship Week. So we invite you all back. Mark your calendars for May 5 through 11, 2024, when we’re going to highlight the value of Registered Apprenticeship programs for young people and hear then what our Trailblazers will have accomplished over this next year.
So I really believe that someone’s personal story is one of the most valuable things a person has. And it’s a gift when someone’s willing to share their story. So thank you to our Trailblazers for all the work you have done and are going to do by sharing your own stories across the country. You are going to tell more people about Registered Apprenticeships.
And to all apprentices and to the graduates who are here, the future is very bright in your hands, and with your voices, and with your stories. As rising leaders in your career fields, I know that you will make us all very proud.
So thank you again. Thank you all for being here. And it’s going to be a great ceremony.