This week, we’re covering:
Workforce and Labor Trends, By the Numbers
Skills, Not Wages, Measure What Truly Matters in the Workforce
Staffing Agencies Could Be Apprenticeship's Missing Intermediary
Partnerships, Investments, and Company Innovation
What We’re Reading (And Listening To)
Workforce and Labor Trends, By the Numbers
48% of hiring managers say they’d rather invest in AI tools than hire and train a recent college graduate, based on a survey of 1,000 U.S. hiring managers at companies with 101 or more employees. [INC]
Fewer than one-third of professionals describe themselves as highly AI-literate, despite 4 in 5 using AI tools monthly, according to CompTIA’s inaugural “AI Skills Tracker.” [HR Dive]
Initial jobless claims fell to 187,000 for the week ending July 18, the lowest level since 1969 and down from 209,000 the previous week, reflecting the current “low-hire, low-fire” mentality driven by economic uncertainty. [HR Brew]
72% of HR professionals surveyed say their L&D strategy is driven by skills needed within the next two years, and only 4% are planning long term, according to a new report by SHRM. [HR Dive]
Skills, Not Wages, Measure What Truly Matters in the Workforce
The Department of Education’s Student Tuition and Transparency System and Earnings Accountability (STATS) rule, finalized in July, now ties student loan eligibility to graduates' first-job earnings. While ensuring students can repay loans is important, C-BEN President Charla Long argues that the rule fails to capture what workers actually know and can do, especially as AI and automation reshape jobs faster than degrees can keep pace. Long makes the case that policymakers and institutions should build a competency-based quality assurance model that verifies the specific skills embedded in a credential, rather than relying on proxies like seat time or wage thresholds.
Staffing Agencies Could Be Apprenticeship's Missing Intermediary
The new field briefing from Apprenticeships for America points to the country’s 27,000 staffing agencies as an underutilized partner in apprenticeship infrastructure, given they already handle the recruiting, payroll, and compliance that apprenticeship requires. The report estimates that converting just over 2% of staffing placements into apprenticeships would add 220,000 new apprentices a year, making significant progress toward the Trump Administration’s stated goal of reaching one million active apprentices. To help incentivize that conversion, the report outlines the need for predictable, formula-based pay-for-performance funding along with Labor Department guidance specific to staffing agencies.
Partnerships, Investments, and Company Innovation
BlackRock, Carhartt, Ford, and Google launched the Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades, a new coalition aimed at closing a projected 2.1 million-worker skilled trades gap by 2030. The founding members have already independently committed to supporting skilled-workforce training in 30 states, and Burning Glass Institute and Jobs for the Future are tasked with tracking the Alliance’s progress as it works to connect skills development with employer needs.
18 community colleges are joining a workforce development program funded by the foundation of the rock band Metallica. The foundation, All Within My Hands, announced more than $3.3 million in grants as part of the Metallica Scholars Initiative, which is now in its eighth year. The program works with a total of 75 colleges and roughly 13,000 students, giving funds to support student safety, tuition offsets, and CTE equipment in programs like air traffic control, agricultural technologies, and AI.
What We’re Reading (And Listening To)
Introducing The Nation’s First AI-Unemployment Tracker [California Employment Development Department]
The job market for new college grads keeps getting worse [NBC News, subscription model]
Nearly 200 Economists and Tech Leaders Warn of A.I. Threats [New York Times, subscription model]
AI didn’t kill the liberal arts: It’s making a new case for them [University Business]
This edition of “New Skills, Talent and Development” was drafted by Annie Han, Ben Clatterbuck, and Ashley Utnage and edited by Julia Pasette-Seamon and Erica Price Burns.