Chicago, IL
November 15, 2023
Governor Pritzker, thank you. Under your leadership, Illinois is expanding innovative ways to create more opportunity for working families.
And I want to add my thanks to Adrielle for sharing her story. She is a powerful example of how good jobs change lives.
I’m so glad to be here with you all today – especially during National Apprenticeship Week.
At the Department of Labor we know that good jobs change lives and every day, you are the ones connecting people to good jobs. Since I came to the DOL, I’ve asked that you unleash the full power of the Department – YOUR full power– and that’s exactly what you’re doing.
And as I travel from coast to coast, I get to brag about the great work that the Employment and Training Administration does, in partnership with training providers, employers, and local officials on the ground.
Last month, I visited the Hospitality Training Academy Kitchen in Los Angeles. HTA’s apprentices are as diverse as LA. The program has a 100 percent job placement rate. And, because of ETA’s work, the Hospitality Training Academy is expanding nationwide, including right here in Chicago.
I also went to Pittsburgh last week with the First Lady. She and I met with the workforce system partners who are making sure that local and diverse workers are ready to fill new jobs in infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and clean energy.
And on Monday, I was in Baltimore visiting with young people who are learning the construction trade. They’re getting hands-on experience by renovating a vacant row house in their neighborhood and transforming it into a carbon-neutral home. And as they showed me their work, what struck me was how proud they are of what they’re building and the hope they have for their future. So much of ETA’s work—and of our work with all of you—is about giving more people a chance to feel that pride, more communities that sense of hope.
Speaking of pride, I got to meet with some of our new Apprenticeship Trailblazers, like Gabby Caballero who now works at Aon here in Chicago. Through an apprenticeship, Gabby has a stable and rewarding career after high school where she can showcase her unique skills and insights at work.
That’s what people in this room help make possible.
And that’s what happens when the Department of Labor unleashes its full power to strengthen America’s workforce.
Now, as so many of you know, President Biden is “Investing in America” to build new roads and bridges, to make sure that clean drinking water flows from every faucet and high-speed, reliable, affordable internet reaches every home, and to protect our climate so every child breathes clean air.
Many have asked – can we connect people who want to work to these jobs in every community? Can we make sure those who have been left behind in the past are included?
And we’ve replied: “Yes WIOA Can.”
For too long WIOA has been seen as a set of rigid rules and requirements that hindered bold action and innovation. But through our Yes WIOA Can campaign, along with states and local governments, workforce boards, unions, employers, and community-based organizations, you’re making sure WIOA funds support good jobs for people who have been shut out in the past.
That’s how we’ll meet this moment.
Wherever I go, I remind people that our workforce system is like infrastructure. It’s the roads, bridges, and onramps that connect people to the good jobs they want and need and employers to the people they want and need.
But just like our physical infrastructure, our workforce system needs some attention. It has some cracks and some potholes. And it doesn't connect to every community the way it should. For too long, far too many people have been left out of the promise of a good job. I’m talking about women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, workers with disabilities, and young people from underserved communities.
We need our workforce system to be as strong as our physical roads and bridges, and we need it to reach all communities.
That’s what ETA’s Workforce Vision 2030 is all about.
First, we’re going to continue opening up opportunities for workers and communities that have been left behind.
This is central to unleashing the full talent of America’s workforce. For example, right now, prime-age women are setting record highs for labor force participation. But women still account for just 4 percent of workers in the skilled construction trades.
That needs to change.
And it’s why, earlier this year, in partnership with Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Labor, we announced a $1.35 million investment to scale the Tradeswomen Building Infrastructure Initiative. Through a close partnership with Chicago Women in Trades, we’re going to connect more women, especially Black women, to good jobs in the construction industry.
Equity is not a standalone priority. We’re building equity into everything we do.
That includes the work to establish new industry partnerships that lead to good jobs. That’s the second pillar of Vision 2030.
We need to develop new relationships with businesses, training providers, and workers to make sure that training opportunities lead to good jobs.
The HTA apprenticeship program I mentioned earlier is able to scale nationwide because of ETA’s Critical Sectors Job Quality grants. Those grants are going to open up opportunities for local workforce boards, unions, employers, and many more organizations to pilot new strategies to build equity, job quality, and worker voice.
Third, Vision 2030 challenges us to build stronger infrastructure around caregiving.
Earlier this month, the Department of Labor published updated research on care and the economy. We estimate that if the U.S. invested in caregivers and policies – like paid leave – as other advanced economies do, it would add more than $775 billion in additional economic activity every single year.
What this research shows is that when we do right by caregivers, we lift up everyone.
Now, child care workers and home health aides are overwhelmingly women. To put a finer point on it, they’re overwhelmingly women of color. They’re also more likely to be immigrants to our country.
And these are vital jobs. But they’re not always good jobs.
On average in the United States, professional caregivers earn less than $15 an hour. And, historically, care workers have had little bargaining power. That’s why ETA is focused on supporting good jobs in the care economy – from nursing to early care, mental health, and more.
And the fourth priority in Vision 2030 is about taking action today for the future of work. And I know you are all gathered at this regional convening to unleash our collective power to do just that.
I want to especially highlight registered apprenticeships today.
Not just because it’s National Apprenticeship Week, but also because they play a part throughout ETA’s Vision 2030.
If we think of our workforce system as infrastructure, registered apprenticeships are superhighways. The Biden-Harris administration has made big investments – over $440 million worth – to help more people take advantage of these training programs. And as a Department, we’re committed to strengthening, expanding, modernizing, and diversifying the National Apprenticeship System.
As you know, last Spring, we announced that we’d be updating our apprenticeship regulations. And our proposed rule will be coming out soon.
With this updated rule, we want to expand registered apprenticeships and make sure we reach under-represented workers – across more industries. We are ensuring quality programs so that training doesn’t lead to a job search, but to a good job. And we want to make sure registered apprenticeships are able to respond as our economy and workforce changes.
And ETA is also focused on building up pre-apprenticeship programs, like YouthBuild.
Today, I’m announcing that the Department of Labor will award approximately $98 million in YouthBuild grants for the 2023 competition. YouthBuild programs serve young people, ages 16-24, who aren’t in school and face barriers to employment. And they give these students the opportunity to learn new skills and build strong ties to their communities.
Take the YouthBuild Columbus Community School in Ohio as one example. Students in this program have renovated three homes for low-income families. And the community hours and the skills that these students earn count toward high school graduation.
YouthBuild also offers training in industries beyond construction, like information technology, health care, and hospitality. With YouthBuild, young people deepen their connections to their communities, and that sets them on a brighter path, whether that’s in a job, furthering their education, or taking part in a registered apprenticeship. And we’re excited to open up this new funding opportunity.
So much of the work that ETA does – and all of you do on the ground at the state and local levels, as employers and training providers – can’t be summed up in grant funding or policies.
When you unleash your full power, so often, it means that you’ve made it easier for someone to get the training they needed to fulfill their dreams.
It’s in the pride and hope that workers feel as they build up the communities they live in.
It’s in hearing how a good job gave a family – in our President’s words – “some breathing room.”
And you all make that happen every single day.
Thank you for all of your work to make sure others around this country have the tools they need to do theirs.