The Biden Administration to Create 460 New Registered Apprenticeship Programs

On September 1, 2022, the Biden Administration announced the creation of 460 new registered apprenticeship programs with more than 10,000 of those trained workers hired over the next year.  The initiative is entitled, “the Apprenticeship Ambassador Initiative, a national network of more than 200 employers and industry organizations, labor organizations, educators, workforce intermediaries, and community-based organizations, who are committed to strengthening and diversifying Registered Apprenticeship.  The Apprenticeship Ambassadors have existing Registered Apprenticeship programs in over 40 in-demand industries and have committed to expand and diversify these programs over the next year by collectively: developing 460 new Registered Apprenticeship programs across their 40 industries, hiring over 10,000 new apprentices, and holding 5,000 outreach, promotional, and training events to help other business, labor, and education leaders launch similar programs.  Ambassadors will also use their expertise to scale innovative practices and increase access to Registered Apprenticeship for underserved populations, including women, youth, people of color, rural communities, people with arrest or conviction records, and people with disabilities.” The North American Building Trades Union said it plans to train 250,000 new apprentices over the next five years, and IBM Corp. will contribute $250 million on registered apprenticeship programs and other training by 2025.

Additionally, the Department of Labor is in the process of rescinding the Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Program (IRAP), finalized by the Trump administration in 2020. A final rule to officially end the program has been under review at the Office of Management and Budget since June, the last step before the regulation is published and goes into effect.

Finally, per the Biden Administration, their efforts to “expand the registered apprenticeship model have created over 4,000 new registered programs and resulted in more than 1 million apprentices being hired. In FY 2021, there were around 600,000 workers participating in apprenticeship programs across the country.  Of those, 96,000 apprentices completed their program in FY 2021.