President Trump signed an executive order from the White House Thursday promoting private apprenticeships as a way for individuals to learn skills that ultimately lead to full-time jobs.
"We're here to celebrate the dignity of work," Trump said before the signing. "Apprenticeships place students into great jobs without the crippling debt of traditional four year college degrees."
“We will be removing federal restrictions that have prevented many different industries from creating apprenticeship programs,” he continued. “We have regulations on top of regulations. And in history, nobody has gotten rid of some of these regulations like the Trump administration.”
White House Special Advisor Ivanka Trump has been leading the apprenticeship project with Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta. Earlier this week, she traveled to a Wisconsin factory with the President to promote the program.
Purpose of the order:
America's education systems and workforce development programs are in need of reform. In today's rapidly changing economy, it is more important than ever to prepare workers to fill both existing and newly created jobs and to prepare workers for the jobs of the future. Higher education, however, is becoming increasingly unaffordable. Furthermore, many colleges and universities fail to help students graduate with the skills necessary to secure high-paying jobs in today's workforce. Far too many individuals today find themselves with crushing student debt and no direct connection to jobs.
Against this background, federally funded education and workforce development programs are not effectively serving American workers. Despite the billions of taxpayer dollars invested in these programs each year, many Americans are struggling to find full-time work. These Federal programs must do a better job matching unemployed American workers with open jobs, including the 350,000 manufacturing jobs currently available.
Expanding apprenticeships and reforming ineffective education and workforce development programs will help address these issues, enabling more Americans to obtain relevant skills and high-paying jobs. Apprenticeships provide paid, relevant workplace experiences and opportunities to develop skills that employers value. Additionally, they provide affordable paths to good jobs and, ultimately, careers.
Finally, federally funded education and workforce development programs that do not work must be improved or eliminated so that taxpayer dollars can be channeled to more effective uses.
Policy of the order:
It shall be the policy of the Federal Government to provide more affordable pathways to secure, high-paying jobs by promoting apprenticeships and effective workforce development programs, while easing the regulatory burden on such programs and reducing or eliminating taxpayer support for ineffective workforce development programs.