Coordination and consolidation of federal workforce development efforts coming

One of the top perennial concerns of America’s manufacturing and business communities relates to the workforce. The main issues may vary year to year; examples include too few workers available, skill mismatch, poor work habits or preparedness because of non-work issues such as basic education attainment, drug use, prison records or lack of work ethic. Among factors complicating workforce development responses are the diverse and disparate skill needs across the spectrum of occupations and sectors, the rapid advancement of technological innovation, and the array of private and public skill development and training efforts. 

As a result, federal involvement in workforce development has crept into many programs and funding priorities where, traditionally, skill development and training did not reside. That might all be changing with the executive order President Trump signed on Wednesday, April 23 2025.

The president is requiring the secretaries of Labor, Commerce and Education to submit a report by the end of July that will identify: 

• Opportunities to integrate systems and realign resources to focus on “critical workforce needs and in-demand skills of emerging industries and companies investing in the United States.”  The report is to include administrative reforms (policies, regulations, program requirements), process improvements and “recommendations to further restructure and consolidate programs.”
• Ineffective or duplicative federal workforce development and education programs that should be reformed, ended with funding redirected elsewhere, or entirely eliminated (funding and effort).
• Opportunities within existing statutory authority to “promote innovation and system integration in pursuit of better employment and earnings outcomes for program participants.
• “Strategies to identify alternative credentials and assessments to the 4-year college degree that can be mapped to the specific skill needs of prospective employers.”
• Efficiencies in data and information collection through performance measurement harmonization across programs, relief of reporting burden and improving data reliability.