Apprenticeships to enjoy policy-driven US tailwinds given bipartisan appeal, widening skills gap

By Erin Caddell, President of Anchor Advisors

There is no doubt that the workforce is shifting as the skills gap grows among America’s youngest workers, and the Trump Administration pushed to bring manufacturing back to our shores. Apprenticeships – professional training programs with echoes of the trade guilds of centuries ago – are likely to benefit from such US policy-driven dynamics despite broader pressures on federal funding. Apprenticeships are viewed by many US federal and state policymakers as a way to address the growing skills gap and adapt to the demands of the rapidly shifting workforce.

In a fractious US policy environment, apprenticeships carry bipartisan appeal. Republicans see an opportunity to revitalize American manufacturing and sap resources away from “woke” colleges. Democrats identify it as a viable opportunity to offer career education to under-represented groups who might otherwise fall through the cracks of the traditional education system. Thus bipartisan support for apprenticeship programs is likely to be resilient amidst the changing tides in Washington.

There is nothing new under the sun, and work training programs are no exception. In the 18th centure BCE, the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi required artisans to teach their craft to the next generation. Guilds emerged in Western Europe through the Middle Ages and Industrial Revolution, and became embedded into the economic life of several European nations. For instance, some 40% of Austrian students [AD1] enter an apprenticeship upon completing mandatory full-time schooling rather than continuing toward university.

America’s 18^th century leaders all depended on apprenticeships to hone their craft. Benjamin Franklin (printing), Paul Revere (silversmith) and George Washington (land surveyor) all started as apprentices. Later, US apprenticeships were formalized amidst the progressive fervor of the New Deal, with the Department of Labor directed to establish and monitor standards for Registered Apprenticeships (RAs). President Obama called in 2014 for a doubling of apprenticeships in the US - a goal that has nearly been achieved in 2025. President Trump also supported apprenticeships in his first term, though his Administration attempted to move more decision-making to the states.

Registered US Apprenticeships. Source: US Department of Labor

Yet, apprenticeship programs face competing cross-currents in President Trump’s second term, with increased focus on job reshoring and revitalizing domestic manufacturing countered by  interest in cutting federal spending. President Trump’s FY25-26 budget proposal recommended a 24% cut to workforce-development programs administered by DOL. However, the budget also recommended that 10% of the funding for the 11 programs be allocated to apprenticeship programs(1).

Despite the near-term noise, secular trends driving increased government attention and resources for US apprenticeship programs appear positive. Both analysts and educational leaders warn that without policy action the skills gap will continue to widen as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to roil nearly every industry. Last year, The Manufacturing Institute, a think tank, forecast that 1.9 million of the 3.8 million manufacturing jobs likely to be created in the U.S. by 2033 may go unfilled without qualified workers(2). Outside that, concerns about the rising cost of college relative to post-graduation outcomes is reaching a boiling point. Many studies suggest that apprenticeship programs, when balanced between offering participants a balance of real-world experience and training, lead to positive outcomes in a participant’s earning potential. For instance, a recent DOL report found that three-quarters of RA program participants earned living wages immediately upon successful completion of their programs(3).

The private sector has been responding to federal investments in career education for decades. Educational Data Systems is a privately held Michigan-based company that partners with companies to develop apprenticeship programs. Based in Wisconsin, Appion Solutions designs software to manage enrollment, administration and outcome monitoring for US apprenticeship programs. And Multiverse, founded in the UK in 2016 by Euan Blair (son of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair) and jointly headquartered in London and New York, manages apprenticeship programs in the US and UK on behalf of companies ranging from Citibank to Just Eat. Multiverse was valued at US$1.7 billion in its last funding round.

In a competitive and rapidly-change labor force, public-private partnerships in career education will be posed to navigate whatever comes their way. Now, investors ought to prepare the moment or risk being left behind.