Create career pathways to fast-growing, 21st century jobs

The demand for highly skilled workers in Pennsylvania continues to increase in an ever-changing economic environment. Putting Pennsylvanians on pathways to good-paying, 21st-century careers through education and skills training will help close our state's skills gap and strengthen families and communities. Investments in workforce development programs like apprenticeships benefit both employers and workers. Employers see reduced turnover, lower training costs, and improved productivity, while workers have the opportunity to earn a paycheck and receive hands-on training and instruction that lead to highly respected careers.

With a $36 million grant investment, PAsmart is focused on ensuring Pennsylvania students and workers have the skills and abilities to meet the economic needs of the 21st century. In PA, the goal is to improve the number of Pennsylvanians with a certificate or degree to 60 percent by 2025. Through targeted grants, the Wolf Administration has awarded $20 million to bolster STEM and computer science (CS) in schools, $4.6 million in Next Generation Industry Partnerships to support implementing and sustaining business-driven priorities, and $6.6 million in PAsmart Apprenticeship grants. Established in 2016, the Apprenticeship and TrainingOffice (ATO) currently supports nearly 17,000 active apprentices, more than 1,500 active occupation-specific registered apprenticeships and 94 occupation-specific pre-apprenticeship programs around the commonwealth.

Governor Wolf has set a goal to increase the number of apprentices in Pennsylvania to 30,000 by 2025. The graphic below reports data on our progress as of June 2019.