President Trump’s Executive Order on Skilled Trade Jobs Is a Start—But We Need Real Investment for America’s Workers

Yesterday, President Trump issued a new Executive Order (EO)—Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future. It’s a welcome recognition that our country needs to do more to meet the workforce needs of a rapidly changing economy.

Declarations alone won’t create economic opportunity for working people and small business owners. Now is the time for the President and Congress to back up that commitment with meaningful investment and legislative action.

Jobs requiring skills training are the backbone of the American economy. America’s greatest strength is its people: a diverse workforce and small business owners who create nearly two-thirds of new jobs. For too long, Congress failed to invest in the very people who keep our economy running. That must change.

The Executive Order rightly aims to strengthen training for in-demand jobs, particularly in emerging industries. It includes:

• A Directive for the Secretaries of Labor, Commerce and Education to review all federal workforce programs and develop a report to serve as the foundation of a “comprehensive worker investment and development strategy.” NSC has long championed the alignment in efforts across these agencies—those which lead the training, education, and economic development activities on which workers and businesses rely. The EO, however, requires the agencies to compile recommendations to “restructure and consolidate [workforce] programs.” This is reminiscent of the Workforce Advisory Council during Trump’s first term. The council offered significant—and often important—recommendations on modernizing our public workforce ecosystem. It also, however, called for drastic cuts in funding and program elimination that would have undermined the stated goal.
• A call to expand apprenticeship in the U.S., increasing participation to 1 million workers. This goal is consistent with calls from President Trump’s first term. The EO yesterday was signed contemporaneously with another on AI and education. Taken together, the two executive orders task DOL with offering guidance to states on spending WIOA dollars to advance apprenticeship, with a focus on what the EO terms, “AI-related occupations.” The “Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth” EO notably instructs DOL to work with practitioners and businesses/associations to “develop standards to be registered on a nationwide basis, enabling individual employers to adopt the standards without requiring individual registry.” While focused on registered programs, this piece of the EO suggests the Trump Administration is revamping efforts from the first administration to advance Industry-Recognized Apprenticeships Programs (IRAPs). This effort, if implemented in a way that aligns with our current system, could offer a fix to the challenges of those IRAPs efforts.
  
• Direction to these same three agencies to improve alignment and transparency in outcome reporting for workforce programs. Data quality, program alignment, and reducing burdens on grantees are all important components of a modernized workforce system, consistent with NSC’s recommendations for WIOA.

However, without bold investment and policies that work for all working people, this order risks becoming an unfulfilled promise. To create ladders to good jobs and clear career pathways, here’s what the Trump Administration and Congress can do:

1. Champion and Adequately Fund Workforce Development Programs

We cannot build a skilled workforce with minimal investment. Critical workforce development programs like the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE), community colleges, and Registered Apprenticeships are chronically underfunded. The U.S. invests less in workforce policies than almost any other industrialized country. Over the past two decades, Congress has repeatedly cut funding for key workforce programs, even as demand has grown. That underinvestment tells skilled workers—healthcare techs, construction crews, IT specialists, and many others—that their work isn’t valued.

Moreover, programs and investments should be tailored for today’s workforce, or we risk leaving critical talent on the table. People of color and women comprise nearly half of the working class and nearly 1 in 5 workers in America are immigrants— for a workforce solution to truly be comprehensive, policies must address this reality.

2. Strengthen Business Engagement Through Industry Partnerships

Sector-based partnerships—those that bring together employers, workers, education and training providers, and community organizations—are essential to ensuring that training leads to in-demand jobs and real career opportunities. Reauthorizing WIOA with robust funding and a strong emphasis on industry partnerships will help align workforce training with local business needs. That includes supporting digital skills training, funding high-quality workforce data, and enhancing supportive services that help workers stay on track. This focus would create the opportunity to scale solutions—across local areas, industries, and our country—by the stakeholders the EO identifies as composing the workforce ecosystem.

3. Expand Access to Pell Grants for Short-Term Training

The bipartisan JOBS Act would allow students to use Pell Grants for high-quality, short-term credential programs at community colleges. These programs open doors to good jobs in growing fields—but right now, too many workers can’t afford to enroll. It’s a commonsense step Congress can take immediately to expand opportunity.

4. Protect programs that make upskilling and reskilling possible

Medicaid, SNAP, and other safety net programs are critical to helping workers complete training, care for their families, and transition into new careers. Proposals to cut or restrict access to these programs directly undermine the goals of the EO. To realize the stated vision, the Trump Administration and Congress should ensure that across their investments and policy changes—even those outside of traditional “workforce” programs—propel workers to success and meet businesses’ needs. Program alignment is critical to workers’ ability to upskill and reskill and businesses’ ability to hire for in-demand roles.

We’ll be watching closely for next steps.

At National Skills Coalition, we’ll be reviewing budget proposals and legislative actions throughout the year to see whether they match the vision laid out in the Executive Order—or fall short. And we’ll be calling on our network of workers, employers, and advocates to take action to ensure our country invests in a workforce and economy that works for everyone.

While Executive Orders signal intent; budgets and laws determine impact and opportunity.