In my June column, I described the magnitude of the skilled workforce problem and some efforts by industry and associations to overcome the problem. This month, I will talk about what federal and state governments are doing to help, and I’ll offer one simple, no-cost, government action that must be implemented immediately.
For example, on the federal level, the Energy Department, Labor Department and the AFL-CIO recently launched a national workforce development strategy for lithium-battery manufacturing. The $5 million investment will support up to five pilot training programs in the energy and automotive industries to train workers in an effort to bolster the domestic battery supply chain.