Plan to Bolster Infrastructure Workforce Unveiled by Biden Team

The Biden administration is taking steps to ensure there are enough trained workers ahead of the expected flood of new construction work created by the bipartisan infrastructure law.

Members of the administration, including Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, will announce Friday a summer-long “Talent Pipeline Challenge” that would connect employers to organizations that offer job training, such as unions, industry associations, and community colleges, senior administration officials said on a press call Thursday.

The effort also encourages state and local government to use funding from the infrastructure law and the American Rescue Plan to invest in opportunities to provide workers with training to support industries that will see increased demand under new infrastructure investment and workers acutely affected by the pandemic, according to a fact sheet.

The initiative will be focused on working with employers and training providers in broadband, construction, and electrification, including electric vehicle charging stations, and battery manufacturing to ensure there is an inclusive pipeline of workers to fill future infrastructure jobs, a senior administration official said.

The effort will also encourage employers who participate in the challenge to recruit women and workers of color, and to provide services like child care and transportation assistance, according to a fact sheet on the plan.

The administration plans to hold several upcoming events touting the workforce training investments made under the American Rescue Plan and future projects under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that collectively are aimed at filling essential jobs in the public sector and the new private-sector jobs created under the infrastructure investments, senior administration officials said.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Walsh also will highlight the administration’s investments under the American Rescue Plan in job training programs and bringing people back into the workforce post-pandemic during a June 27 “workforce summit.”

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