As the demand for workers with technical skills and knowledge of artificial intelligence (AI) increases, so is the call for the reauthorization and modernization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
At a March 4 hearing of a House Education and Workforce subcommittee, witnesses and legislators made it clear that updating WIOA and investing in other programs that support employer-led training can help the nation close workforce shortages in technical industries and prepare an AI-ready workforce.
“The economy looks very different than it did when WIOA was first reauthorized in 2014,” said Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah), chair of the Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee. “We have to ask whether the system we built more than a decade ago is equipped for the economy we have today.”
Reinforcing employer-led training
Scott Ralls, president of Wake Technical Community College in North Carolina, said his college is seeing a rebound in student interest in skilled trades programs – due, in part, to students’ curiosity about AI. That renewed interest coincides with the growing demand for training in energy-related fields as AI increases energy demands.
To meet that workforce need, Wake Tech is a lead institution in the Careers Electric national initiative, funded by the Siemens Foundation and aimed at tackling the nation’s growing electrification talent shortage.
“Efforts like these are strengthened by WIOA and other federal workforce frameworks that reinforce employer-aligned training,” Ralls said. “Continued alignment between the federal workforce policy and employer demand will remain essential as AI reshapes the labor market.”
Employer-led training, supported by WIOA, helps colleges like Wake Tech respond appropriately to what employers need, he added, not what the college perceives employers need.
“It’s about hitting targets,” Ralls said. “It cannot be targets we’re imagining. If we’re imagining them for our students, we’re not providing a service for them.”
Boosting registered apprenticeships
The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) is working with employers and training partners to grow registered apprenticeships to support the telecommunications industry – more vital now as AI use increases. In fact, according to a Citigroup report, $3 trillion will be spent on AI infrastructure by 2030, cited Tim House, WIA’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.
WIA has been recognized as a national sponsor of registered apprenticeships by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) since 2017, working with 113 employers across 16 DOL-approved occupations to help more than 7,200 apprentices find meaningful work.
Despite successes, increasing registered apprenticeships – and meeting President Donald Trump’s executive order to enroll 1 million new registered apprentices annually – Congress needs to reauthorize WIOA, House said.
“By preserving state flexibility, explicitly supporting registered apprenticeships and employer-led training, and encouraging the sector-partnership model that has already proven its effectiveness, this Congress can deliver the policy foundation our workforce needs,” he said.
When paired with other investments, such as the deployment of National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD) funds, America can meet workforce demands, he said.
“The infrastructure ambitions of this nation are in reach; the workforce to build it should be, too,” House added.
Supports also are needed from the federal government to boost youth apprenticeships, said Brent Parton, president of CareerWise USA. The average apprentice age is 29, he noted, which is “too late.” AI is transforming entry-level work and young people need to be prepared for that.
Parton said that federal policy should include a focus on youth and early career infrastructure. Youth apprenticeships are not an alternative to college, but an “affordable complement.”
In addition to calling for a reauthorization of WIOA, Parton called on Congress to update and modernize the National Apprenticeship Act to strengthen the connections among youth apprenticeship, career and technical education, and registered apprenticeship.
Addressing challenges with WIOA
Witnesses also noted challenges to WIOA that a reauthorization could address.
House said that, though registered apprenticeship has rapidly expanded, many employers choose not to pursue funding through WIOA because of administrative burdens. Regulation changes also can create uncertainty and confusion.
According to Ralls, performance requirements in WIOA “speak to process and not outcomes,” creating a challenge in determining ultimate employment outcomes and wage progression. Wake Tech – and other colleges – need data to see how former students are progressing through the workforce.
And Mary Kate Morley Ryan, a managing director at Accenture, cited the need to modernize WIOA to reduce delays with program approval and reimbursement and improve processes related to the Eligible Training Provider List.
By modernizing WIOA, Morley Ryan said in her written testimony, “Congress can expand access to high-quality earn-and-learn pathways and ensure workforce investments translate into measurable economic opportunity in an AI-enabled economy.”
‘Threading’ AI across campus, workforce
Beyond WIOA and other legislation to boost employer-led training, witnesses talked about practices for preparing students and employees for the AI boom.
Wake Tech is “threading” AI across disciplines, Ralls said. So far, faculty across 33 academic disciplines have integrated AI into more than 200 courses. The college also has made AI literacy a priority for students and faculty. For students, especially, the college ensures they are critical thinkers, understanding that AI is a “powerful tool and not a crutch,” Ralls said.
The college also offers AI digital badges that students can earn alongside their academic credentials. They can be included on transcripts and in professional portfolios that are visible to employers.
AI is being used to improve student support, too. AI agents have been incorporated to increase responsiveness and allow advisors to focus more deeply on personal engagement.
Wake Tech, Ralls said, is preparing students to meet the future with “technical excellence and informed judgement.”
It’s not just colleges that must focus on AI literacy, according to Morley Ryan of Accenture.
“Employers need to make AI literacy an imperative, not an option,” she said.
She noted that the United States already lags behind other countries in AI training. The United Kingdom, for example, has a target of training 10 million workers – a third of its workforce – with AI skills by 2030.
“We need those bold goals,” she said.
