Develop a skilled workforce that meets the needs of Pennsylvania's business community

Pennsylvania faces a changing economy that's placing new demands on our workers and businesses. Employers are hiring, but the job-skills gap in today's workforce too often leads to a shortage of qualified job candidates. At the same time, too many workers are employed in low-wage jobs and lack the training they need to compete for in-demand careers. To meet these common challenges, state government, the education sector, labor, and industry must all work together to close the skills gap and build a well-trained workforce.

Governor Wolf’s Manufacturing PA initiative was launched in October 2017, and since then has funded 56 projects and invested more than $12 million through the Training-to-Career program. Training-to-Career grants support projects that result in short-term work-readiness, job placement, or the advancement of manufacturing. In 2021, new funding was made available to support the Manufacturing Training-to-Career (MTTC) program to help businesses develop programs that bring awareness to careers and opportunities within the state’s manufacturing industry and support companies in identifying and training a skilled workforce through targeted programs and service. Continuing the rollout of his groundbreaking PAsmart initiative, Governor Tom Wolf announced $10.8 million in PAsmart Advancing Grants to expand access to computer science and STEM education for Pennsylvania learners. Combined with PAsmart Targeted Grants announced in 2020, the Wolf administration has awarded nearly $20 million to bolster STEM and computer science (CS) in schools during the 2020-21 school year. Additionally, the 2020-24 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Plan has prioritized five broad goals for the workforce development system.

The chart below shows the number of trainings provided to Pennsylvania workers through the following state-supported programs: Local Government Training Partnership (LGTP), Partnership for Regional Economic Performance (PREP), and the Workforce & Economic Development Network of Pennsylvania (WEDnetPA).

The chart below shows the overall percentage change in wages for Industry Partnerships participants one year after they completed training.