On March 14, President Trump overturned an executive order, originally signed by President Biden, that created a federal interagency working group focused on expanding registered apprenticeships in federal employment or on federally-funded projects.
Registered apprenticeships are on-the-job, “earn while you learn” training programs that are vetted and approved by the U.S. Department of Labor or by a state government’s apprenticeship agency. This vetting ensures that registered apprenticeship programs are closely aligned with industry hiring needs and follow an approved, comprehensive training curriculum to guarantee high-quality outcomes both for employers seeking skilled labor and workers seeking stable careers in high-demand occupations. Registered apprenticeships are an important way to train people for the workforce without requiring workers to take on debt or financial risk. Many registered apprenticeships (including the vast majority of registered apprenticeship programs in the construction industry) are jointly funded and administered by employers and labor unions, and thus do not rely on any public funding. In recent years, interest has grown in expanding the model of registered apprenticeship in other sectors seeking to recruit and hire workers with specialized skills, such as health care and public employment.
Unlike registered apprenticeships, other types of workforce training or education are not required to meet particular standards for quality, cost, or outcome. For example, training programs required by some employers may not include pay for time spent in training, or may even require workers to pay significant fees for training with no guarantee that skills acquired will lead to long-term employment and no option for reimbursement if a promised job falls through. Unlike registered apprenticeships, other forms of job-related training do not result in an industry-recognized, portable credential that sets workers up for lifelong career opportunities and guarantees future employers the ability to hire trained workers who possess a clearly defined, job-ready skillset.
The multi-agency working group established under EO 14119 was directed to consult with business, educational institutions, and labor unions about ways to improve or expand access to registered apprenticeships. The working group was charged with supporting expansion of registered apprenticeships by either adding registered apprenticeship criteria to agency grants or contracts or expanding registered apprenticeship career opportunities within federal agency employment.
The EO also re-established labor-management forums in federal agencies, reversing a 2017 EO which had disbanded these longstanding structures designed to improve communication and coordination between federal employee unions and management, and overall ensure smooth, efficient operations for government services. Disbanding these labor-management forums is part of the administration’s ongoing attacks on federal employees and the voice of unions in the federal government.
Impact
Revoking this EO will mean the federal government will no longer prioritize expansion of registered apprenticeships, which will limit opportunities to expand registered apprenticeship career pathways in federal employment and slow the expansion of private-sector registered apprenticeships that are of high value to both employers seeking skilled workers and workers seeking stable careers in high-demand industries. In February, the Trump administration’s Labor Secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, told Senators that she would focus on registered apprenticeships if she were confirmed to lead the Department of Labor. Secretary Chavez-DeRemer’s commitment will be harder to carry out without the support of either the White House or the interagency partnerships like the one President Trump is now ending.