Biden-Harris Starts Workforce Drive for Advanced Manufacturing Jobs

On Oct 6, 2023

TL/DR –

The Biden-Harris administration launched its Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Sprint, an initiative aiming to build a diverse, skilled workforce for advanced manufacturing jobs. The nationwide drive forms part of the third Investing in America tour and will involve partnerships with employers, unions, and educational and training providers to improve training for this growing field. The sprint will underpin significant investments already made by the administration, such as the award of $200 million in federal funding for projects supporting advanced manufacturing workforce development in September alone.

The Biden-Harris Administration Launches Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Sprint

The third Investing in America tour has been launched with a White House convening to begin the Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Sprint. This initiative aims to create a robust, diverse workforce for high-quality jobs in advanced manufacturing sectors such as clean energy, biotechnology, and semiconductors, propelled by the Biden-Harris Investing in America agenda.

Nationwide Collaboration for Advanced Manufacturing

The Sprint involves collaboration between employers, unions, educational institutions, community groups, philanthropic organizations and governments to help Americans succeed in this growing sector. The focus will be to highlight the beneficial impacts of the Bidenomics agenda in creating future-oriented manufacturing jobs. President Biden will speak about Jobs Day and National Manufacturing Day, noting the creation of 800,000 manufacturing jobs under his administration.

Interested Organizations Invited to Join

The Sprint will extend beyond the tour and through 2023; interested organizations can join by submitting a commitment through this link. The Administration has already invested significantly in training and preparing students and workers for advanced manufacturing jobs, many of which do not require a four-year college degree.

New Actions to Expand High-Quality Pathways

Several new actions have been announced to expand pathways into good advanced manufacturing jobs and careers. These include an Advanced Manufacturing Registered Apprenticeship Accelerator Series by the Department of Labor, a new Registered Apprenticeship program by BioFabUSA, a cross-sector effort by DOL, and more efforts by the American Federation of Teachers, the National Science Foundation and the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute.

Highlighting Workforce Development Efforts

The convening will spotlight ongoing efforts to ensure workforce development programs effectively meet the needs of workers and employers. This includes the progress made by the Investing in America Workforce Hubs and initiatives such as EVeryone Charging Forward by the Siemens Foundation.

Federal Investments Supporting Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Development

Recent federal investments include funding from the NSF, DOL, and the Department of Defense targeting advanced manufacturing research and workforce development.

Collaborations to Enhance Job Quality in Advanced Manufacturing

The convening will have senior leaders from various sectors discussing collaborations to boost the quality of advanced manufacturing jobs and ensure effective workforce development programs. The Advanced Manufacturing Sprint builds on previous workforce sprints by the Biden-Harris Administration aiming to improve job quality and workforce development.