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Washington, DC - Tonight, I'm also asking more businesses to follow the lead of companies like CVS and UPS, and offer more educational benefits and paid apprenticeships -- opportunities that give workers the chance to earn higher-paying jobs even if they don't have a higher education. ~ President Obama, State of the Union Address, January 20, 2015

Over the past six years, we’ve begun to rebuild our economy on a new foundation. Middle class economics for the 21st century provides working families with the support they need to make ends meet right now—to reward hard work so paychecks go further to cover the cost of health care, a home, and a secure retirement.  It empowers every hard-working American with the education and training they need to get ahead and earn higher wages.  Now we have to build on this progress to raise wages and incomes and to strengthen the standing of working families in a new economy.

Increasing employer investment in worker training paves a clearer path to a better-paying job for more American workers. Last year, the President announced an historic investment in expanding registered apprenticeships, the gold-standard of employer investment in training and a proven strategy for helping workers advance into good, middle class jobs. Since then, employers, labor unions, and training providers across the country have added 40,000 new apprentices, the nation’s largest increase in registered apprenticeships in nearly a decade. And the President is committed to accelerating that pace again this year.

In his State of the Union address and again at Boise State today, the President is calling on more employers to adopt or expand measures to help workers gain the skills and credentials to advance into better paying jobs – including by expanding registered apprenticeships, increasing uptake of tuition benefit programs that pay for a worker to complete their college education, offering on-the-job training for career progression, and increasing access to technology-enabled learning tools.  Spreading best practices like these can ensure employers get the skilled workforce that they need, while workers get an opportunity to realize their full potential and earn more. At the same time, the President is taking action on his own – while proposing new measures in his Budget – that would expand access to apprenticeships and training.

New Actions and Employer Investments to Equip More Workers with Skills They Need to Advance

  • Private Sector is Leading the Charge in Answering the President’s Call to Help More Workers Advance: More than 30 employers are already answering the President’s call to action, and announcing commitments to expand use of best practices, including:
    • Growing apprenticeships, building on largest growth in over a decade, and expanding on-the-job training that equips workers with skills to advance to better jobs
    • Supporting thousands of workers to earn a college degree for free while they are working
    • Providing a clear path upward for employees who develop and demonstrate skills
  • White House Convening Employers, Educators, Labor, and Philanthropy to Do More: The White House will convene a group of leading employers, educators, labor, philanthropy, and others to take additional steps to support the job progression of hard-working Americans. In preparation, the Aspen Institute is coordinating a broad business-led coalition to highlight and encourage wider use of employer best practices.
  • Executive Actions and Legislative Proposals to Expand Apprenticeship and Training: The Administration is unveiling new executive actions that align more than $50 billion in federal investments with efforts to expand apprenticeships and increase access to technology-enabled training. The President’s FY2016 Budget calls on Congress to invest over $2 billion to expand registered apprenticeships and spread high-quality training programs for front-line workers.

Employers Making Commitments to Help Workers Advance

In his State of the Union Address, the President issued a call to action to the employers of millions of front-line workers to help put their employees on a path to middle-class jobs. Today, major employers, in partnership with the Administration, are stepping forward to do just that.

Bringing Together Employers, Non-Profits, Labor and Others to Do More in Answering the President’s Call to Help Workers Advance: In the months ahead, the White House will convene a group of employers, education and training providers, labor organizations, workforce investment system, foundations, non-profits and other groups who will take additional steps to support the training and job progression of hardworking Americans. In preparation, the Aspen Institute is coordinating a coalition of business-led and business-focused organizations including the Committee for Economic Development of the Conference Board, the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, Business Leaders United, and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning.  

New Commitments to Accelerate the Largest Increase in Registered Apprenticeships in Nearly a Decade: Apprenticeships represent the gold-standard of employer investment in training and career development for hard-working Americans – and a proven path to the middle-class with graduates earning more than $50,000 on average. The following major employers are announcing new efforts to expand apprenticeship for more American workers. These commitments build off of efforts by UPS, Siemens, Dow, Alcoa, John Deere, the SEIU, and the UAW and its employers including Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler.

To help more employers learn how to start their own apprenticeship programs, the Department of Labor is launching a new employer-to-employer outreach program called Apprenticeship LEADERs (Leaders of Excellence in Apprenticeship Development, Education, and Research).  Later this year, the Department of Labor will bring together leading companies on expanding the use of apprenticeship to strengthen U.S. companies while providing workers with pathways to the middle class and beyond.

New Investments in High-Quality Training for Workers to Move Up the Ladder: Leading employers are equipping front-line workers with the skills necessary for not only productivity in their current role, but also for career progression over time. In addition, some are supporting employees as they complete an industry-recognized credential or degree while working, by increasing access to higher education benefits for quality programs among their front-line workers.

These strategies are proven to lead to business success, by improving employee retention and ensure workplace engagement. The following employers are expanding their use of these best practices and leading the charge in response to the President’s call to action:

Providing a Path Upward for Workers Who Can Demonstrate Needed Skills: Companies are clarifying what it takes to get ahead, and developing clear pathways for high-potential, hard-working employees from the front-line to advance into better-paying jobs that will leverage their skills and competencies. These strategies also help employers meet their talent needs. Companies leading the way include:

Business-Led UpSkill America Initiative: The Aspen Institute is coordinating a coalition of business-led and business-focused organizations including the Committee for Economic Development of the Conference Board, the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, Business Leaders United, and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, along with the Aspen Institute’s Skills for America’s Future initiative. Together, these organizations are dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for American workers through education and workforce development and will work to recognize leading employers that provide expanded career opportunities for their workers, encourage the widespread adoption of business practices that promote expanded economic opportunity, and work to foster education and workforce development efforts that support and advance these efforts. In addition, Deloitte Consulting will team with the UpSkill America Initiative and participating employers to develop a toolkit to support employers who are looking to do more to support the learning, development and job progression of their front-line workers. This partnership is working with Federal agencies and inviting other employers and business organizations to join in adopting proven employer best practices in preparation for an upcoming White House convening. Learn more at http://www.UpSkillAmerica.org

Executive Actions to Support Increased Employer Investment in Training to Put More American Workers on a Path to the Middle-Class

Aligning Federal Education and Training Investments with Efforts to Support More Workers in Apprenticeship: The Administration is making it possible to use Federal funding sources totaling more than $50 billion a year to help more employers launch and sustain apprenticeship programs that benefit American workers and more workers take advantage of those training programs. Today, the Department of Labor is releasing a playbook for employers, educational institutions, training providers, and workforce development professionals on how to leverage these funds to support apprenticeships, including:

These Federal funds provide a sustainable source of support for expanding apprenticeships that complements the $100 million American Apprenticeships Grant competition currently open.

Calling on Congress to Pass Bipartisan Legislation to Help More Workers Get Ahead and More Businesses Invest in the Skills They Need

$2 Billion to Double American Apprenticeships Over Five Years: Despite apprenticeships’ track record of success and record-breaking expansion over the past year, the United States has only 415,000 registered apprentices.  If the United States had as many apprentices on a per capita basis as Germany, we would have 7 million apprentices. Even Great Britain, a nation with an economy one-fifth the size of ours, has more than twice our number of apprentices.  In his FY16 Budget, the President will propose a $2 billion Apprenticeship Training Fund to be spent over four years with the intent of doubling the number of apprentices in America. The Apprenticeship Training Fund would provide grants for states and regions to launch comprehensive apprenticeship expansion strategies that, for example, could combine modest financial incentives and expert assistance to help employers launch or expand apprenticeship programs. In addition, the Training Fund would make investments in the formation of regional consortia to create new apprenticeships and increase participation in existing apprenticeship programs and expand access to this proven training strategy to a broader swath of Americans. The President’s proposal builds on bipartisan efforts in Congress to expand apprenticeship, proving that we can all agree on helping businesses get the skills they need and workers get on a path to the middle-class.

Expanding Technical Training for Middle Class Jobs: Building on high-quality and innovative programs, like Tennessee Tech, that achieve better than average completion and employment outcomes, the President is proposing the American Technical Training Fund. The proposal will fund projects that could include up to 100 community colleges.  Smaller grants would help to bring together partners and start pilot programs. Larger grants would be used for expanding programs based on evidence of effectiveness, which could include past performance on graduation rates, job placement rates and placement wages.