March 4, 2025 -- Those of us in the workforce development space know that the 118th Congress came “just this close” to reauthorizing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) through a bill titled A Stronger Workforce for America (ASWA). While a logical starting place for this Congress’s WIOA reauthorization debates (the bill was a bipartisan, bicameral agreement), I invite policy makers to pause, step back a bit, and consider a bigger picture as they initiate these discussions. 

A robust workforce system requires well organized orchestration, customer centricity in its services, and agility for changing economic conditions. 

While ASWA did have some provisions which would enhance our nation’s public workforce system it was unfortunately based on an incomplete premise; namely that it exists primarily to be a conduit for training. Creating access to training is certainly a part of what workforce boards do, but they – as prescribed in WIOA’s purpose section – do so much more. The law was designed to “improve the quality of the workforce, reduce welfare dependency, increase economic self-sufficiency, meet the skill requirements of employers, and enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the Nation.” 

Tomorrow (Wednesday, March 5), the House Education and Workforce Committee’s Subcommittee on Higher Education & Workforce Development will hold this Congress’s first official hearing on WIOA entitled “Strengthening WIOA: Improving Outcomes for America’s Workforce”. I hope the witnesses paint the full picture of what workforce boards do in communities all across the nation to achieve those results noted above. 

While there will certainly be questions and testimony about skills development, I hope the witnesses spend time outlining the convener role workforce boards play and the investment it takes to effectively play this role. Bringing stakeholders together – business leaders, training providers, community-based organizations, economic developers, educational entities, unions – to discern their region’s pathway to economic vitality is no small task. It takes – among other things - agility, negotiation, data analysis, and strategy. And it takes the investment of time and planning.  Without that investment, communities lack a shared future vision and the path to get there. 

I hope Congress’s aperture can broaden to learn more about this essential role of workforce boards and understand the vital importance of shaping WIOA reauthorize to enhance it. 

I also hope testimony is offered to reflect the value small and medium-sized businesses receive from using the WIOA system to address their talent needs. FutureWork Systems analysis of WIOA data from the last four reported quarters (July 2023-June 2024) reveals that over 1.5 million jobs were filled by employers leveraging WIOA in just this way – that’s a job filled every 5 seconds of every work day. That means that by the time you finish reading this sentence, a business will have hired a new employee because of WIOA. 

Employers use this system every day to find talent; they also use it to upskill that talent once on the job. WIOA offers small businesses the ability to provide talent development to their teams without having to have a full-blown training department like bigger corporations may have. This service enables small business to find and grow its talent and compete in today’s rapidly changing environment. I hope Congress hears about this vital support for small businesses and sees how it is a critical part of the WIOA picture. 

Through this hearing, I hope Congress understands the importance of the full variety of supports and resources WIOA offers to job seekers – including, but not limited to, training resources. Training is certainly a type of support accessible through WIOA; it can be just what’s needed to help someone enter the labor market. But (as referenced in the FutureWork Systems analysis) there were literally over a million people who found work from July 2023 - June 2024 because of WIOA who did not need training to make that move; they needed something else such as career services, resume development, technology skills, transportation, or other supportive services. And WIOA is designed – and should continue to be designed – to just that: meet the job seeker where they are and provide what’s needed, either directly or through partners. 

I’m not saying training is not important; it is. 

I’m not saying WIOA shouldn’t offer training; it should. 

Do I think WIOA could or should be doing more to ensure training is offered when warranted and that that training leads to employment?  I sure do. But there’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to training. 

But to begin and end the understanding of WIOA as being only or even primarily about training is not just short-sighted; it’s inaccurate and misleading.   

It fails to reflect the complexity within our nation’s public workforce system. Every day, thousands of career coaches help people enter the workforce through WIOA. Small businesses turn to WIOA to find their next employees and communities across this nation are working to understand where their economy is going and put together plans to meet that future. 

So, I hope tomorrow’s hearing doesn’t continue the limited view from last year’s debate but rather paints the fuller picture so that WIOA reauthorization can truly improve all that our nation’s public workforce system does for the communities it serves.