Today’s American workforce isn’t sustainable

OPINION:

If recent headlines are any indication, America’s promise of upward mobility and economic opportunity is rapidly disintegrating. Recent college graduates are struggling to find jobs as artificial intelligence disrupts entry-level hiring. Higher education, still perceived as the best path to improving one’s economic prospects, faces more skepticism than ever. To fill gaps even as the Trump administration is taking steps to bring certain jobs back to the U.S., many American businesses continue to look overseas for talent.

From a business standpoint in a global economy, it makes perfect sense for American companies to seek talent from around the world. Companies remain under enormous pressure to increase productivity and reduce costs, which means most seek short-term talent fixes rather than investing in sustainable talent pipelines that allow them to hire the right talent and teach them the right skills. With approximately 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day and young talent not having gained the job skills to be successful, our nation has missed a huge opportunity to develop the next generation of American workers.

Put simply, the U.S. is failing to sustain its workforce. To begin building a sustainable workforce, the goal should be higher than simply reversing the offshoring trend. It should be about reestablishing America as a premier source of talent for today’s business needs and for tomorrow’s rapidly changing, AI-enabled economy.

What does a sustainable workforce look like? For the business and policy communities alike, it means transforming how they prepare workers by aligning their efforts to incentivize and invest in education and training. That means joining forces with education providers and emerging “intermediaries” to accelerate the development of new talent and complement the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to bring back American jobs.

Businesses should be the ones to take the first step. For the better part of a decade, the relationship between the employer community and higher education has been fraying. Research has shown that companies don’t think colleges are giving people the skills they need to succeed on the job. Employers can step in and fill that gap.

When the U.S. economy was roaring in the mid-20th century, it was in no small part because big employers invested in employee training and development. Think of Crotonville, the GE training campus in New York City’s suburbs. For more than 60 years, this seminal corporate training center helped thousands of workers upskill and enter new roles until it was shuttered in 2022. Building a more sustainable workforce doesn’t mean companies should build new Crotonvilles. It does require them to explore new options for developing tomorrow’s talent.

One option, apprenticeship, is gaining traction. This time-tested earn-and-learn model is expanding from its traditional niche in the building trades into occupations such as digital procurement and supply chain management. The apprenticeship model is simple, which is why it’s the world’s oldest form of education. It also makes sense in today’s fast-changing world.

A sustainable workforce doesn’t just fill today’s talent and skill needs. It also adapts to the technological changes and economic volatility that are hallmarks of today’s labor market. Apprenticeships respond to both challenges. By providing real-world specialized experience and mentorship, apprenticeships ensure that workers gain immediately relevant technical skills while giving early-career talent a space to practice the “soft skills” of collaboration and critical thinking that can help them navigate a lifetime of work. The business case for apprenticeships is already clear: Research shows that their median return is $144 for every $100 that companies invest.

Policymakers also have a critical role to play in developing a sustainable workforce. Starting any type of training program isn’t straightforward, and we cannot expect companies to rethink their entire talent strategies or invest without public sector support. The Trump administration’s recent hike in the price of new H1-B visa applications — which American companies have used for more than three decades to recruit lower-cost international workers — will level the playing field for many companies, forcing them to develop their own talent or partner with someone that will.

That’s an important step, but building a more sustainable workforce will require more incentives to encourage companies to do the right thing. Imagine if the federal government paid employers and intermediaries based on how many apprentices they hire, train and retain. Instead of the cumbersome grant process that governs apprenticeships today, an incentive system would send a clear signal that public funding will follow actual outcomes (that is, newly created jobs in America). That kind of reliable, predictable funding would prompt thousands of companies to see apprenticeships as a viable alternative to their current talent challenges and encourage more companies to look onshore rather than offshore. It would also accelerate improved talent development efforts to help the U.S. catch up on the world stage.

Today’s American workforce isn’t sustainable, but there’s no use pointing fingers and laying blame. By collaborating on investments in and incentives for education and training, businesses and policymakers can ensure that it makes perfect sense to seek the next generation of highly skilled American workers closer to home.

• Matt Stewart is the founder and CEO of RiseNow.