Assistant U.S. Labor Secretary Henry Mack recently handed out his cell phone number to a crowd of attendees at the SHRM26 conference in Orlando, Florida. He encouraged employers to reach out to him directly to discuss federal job training funds that could help them and their employees prepare for a changing labor market.
Mack highlighted several federal training and education grants that provide funding totaling between $200 million and $300 million. However, he noted that these grants are often accessed through partnerships with state and local workforce boards, community colleges, and universities.
The Department of Labor official acknowledged that working with these stakeholders can be challenging, but emphasized the importance of doing so to drive change and innovation. He encouraged HR departments to engage with local workforce boards, even if it can be difficult to work with them.
Mack also recommended that individual SHRM chapters adopt a local workforce board to help make these entities more responsive to employers’ talent needs. He stressed that he needs the help of attendees to drive the kind of change the Department of Labor is advocating for.
Related: The Myth of the Natural Interviewee
If attendees need help interacting with a workforce board or looking for funding opportunities, Mack invited them to give him a call, saying “I’m as serious as a heart attack.” He wants to ensure that employers have the resources they need to succeed.
The U.S. labor market faces a broader issue, with many employees having higher levels of formal education than necessary for their jobs. Mack attributed this to a disconnect between the nation’s postsecondary education system and its ability to map skills to available jobs.
To address this issue, Mack suggested that education systems and institutions should move towards competency-based and skill-informed learning. He also emphasized the need for employers to adopt hiring models that place less emphasis on formal degrees and more on skills and capabilities, which is a key aspect of a hiring reset.
The Department of Labor has announced an interagency agreement with the Department of Education to create a national skills credentialing framework. This framework aims to provide a more effective signal of workers’ skills than traditional transcripts or online profiles.
Related: The Digital Shouting Match: Why Job Boards Feel Like a Graveyard (and How to Fix It)
Mack noted that employers need to buy into this idea for it to be successful, otherwise, it will be ineffective. The Department of Labor has advanced several training initiatives, including funding for training in critical workforce shortages such as skilled trades and artificial intelligence.
In April, the Department of Labor launched a website to provide organizations with information on building AI literacy and AI-focused apprenticeships. Mack acknowledged that the federal government does not have enough data to know precisely how disruptive AI will be to specific employees or occupations.
However, they are focused on giving employers resources to prepare for any challenges. Mack emphasized the importance of “human skills” such as communication and writing in a time of growing automation and technological change.
Mack said “We don’t want to lose the capacity and the ability to work with colleagues with empathy, sympathy and humility,” he said. The Department of Labor is working to help local stakeholders prepare for the impact of AI on their local contexts.
Leave a Reply