Education and Workforce Development

The United States is losing its competitive edge compared to countries like China due to its lack of focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. American companies throughout the entire tech ecosystem consistently face talent shortages. TechNet supports efforts to grow and strengthen America’s talent pipeline by ensuring equitable access to digital and AI skills training across occupations; encouraging and supporting American students and workers to pursue careers in in-demand STEM fields, particularly computer science education; and retooling our immigration policies to attract global talent. TechNet advocates for greater federal investments in education, apprenticeships, and workforce training to help all American students and workers succeed in a global, interconnected, and technology-driven economy.

TechNet supports:

• Education and workforce development policies focusing on greater access to digital skills and digital and financial training across industries and empowering workers to keep their skills updated and in line with the changing demands and nature of work in the 21st century.
• Apprenticeships and career and technical education programs (degree and non-degree) that advance the knowledge and/or skills necessary for high-demand technical career pathways.
• The adoption of financial and digital literacy standards as requirements for high school graduation for all students.
• Efforts to streamline processes for accessing job training funds, including efforts to incentivize reciprocity for eligible training providers.
• The expansion of online skills and workforce training programs for underserved and underrepresented communities.
• Expanding computer science and AI offerings in high schools and allowing qualified computer science courses to fulfill a core high school graduation requirement.
• Robust and sustained efforts to train and recruit more high-quality STEM and computer science teachers through effective professional development and teacher training programs.
• Promotion of the K-12 Computer Science Framework.
• Policies that encourage the use of digital content and technology, including access to high-speed broadband and connectivity in the classroom, as well as increased internet adoption at home.
• Fully funding STEM education programs enacted in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.
• Ensuring that student data is protected, while also providing parents, teachers, and students the ability to access educational tools to promote innovation and technology in the classroom.
• Increased public/private partnerships with HBCUs, PBIs, HSIs, and Tribal Colleges and Universities to develop broader and deeper curriculum to promote STEM education and careers to create a more diverse workforce.
• The National Science Foundation to more equitably allocate funding for research with a focus on early childhood and to support research on the factors that encourage or discourage girls to engage in STEM activities, including computer science. TechNet also supports increased funding for programs that help girls learn computer science.
• Tax incentives to encourage employers to invest in the skills of the current workforce.
• Greater use of innovation and data to help workers understand available training and career paths and policies which would make it easier for individuals to differentiate between credentials and search for quality programs that are likely to lead to in-demand and higher-wage jobs.
• Greater transparency of student career and salary outcomes in America’s postsecondary education system to provide America’s students with accurate information to help attain post-graduate employment opportunities.
• Lifelong learning, retraining, and reskilling policies and programs that allow workers to attain the education and skills they need to stay current as jobs evolve and advance their careers.
• Broader work-based training programs, including support for transitional employment which would provide subsidies for time-limited, wage-paid work experiences and skills
• Employers and employees should be free to enter into mutually agreeable arrangements, such as predispute arbitration, to resolve employment-related disputes and obtain a faster and more cost-effective resolution of such disputes.
• In general, federal preemption regarding employment-related issues.
• Policies to attract and retain advanced STEM degree students from around the world who study at U.S. institutions of higher education to continue their career development in the United States.

TechNet has endorsed the following bills in the 119th Congress that would advance its education and workforce development policy principles:

• AI Workforce Training Act – This bill would support workforce training initiatives that help workers develop the skills needed to use AI tools effectively and participate in the AI-driven economy.
• AI Talent Act – This bill would help strengthen the AI talent pipeline and ensure the United States can attract, develop, and retain the skilled workforce needed to lead in artificial intelligence.
• NSF AI Education Act – This bill would expand National Science Foundation scholarship and professional development opportunities to study AI, helping prepare students, educators, and workers for the opportunities created by artificial intelligence.
• Workforce Transparency Act – This bill would establish a channel for AI developers and adopting companies to report to the Department of Labor how AI usage alters tasks, job performance, and broader workforce dynamics.
• JOBS Act – This bill would expand Pell Grant eligibility to high-quality short-term job training programs that lead to industry-recognized credentials and prepare workers for in-demand careers.