The Trump administration wants to increase apprenticeships

0:00Virco manufacturing is doing exactly the kind of work that President Trump says America needs more of. It starts with raw steel and turns it into the furniture you see in schools. We're going to bend it, manipulate it, spot weld it to make case goods. Teacher's desk, office administration desk, vertical lateral file cabinets, all metal bookcases, things like that. That's Steve Presley, vice president and general manager. He and his brother both started at age 16 when their dad was the plant manager. My dad drug our butt in here, and we worked every Saturday and Sunday, and we worked in maintenance department.

0:35The plant is in central Arkansas. It once employed 1 ,500 people, but today it's down to around 500, and it is far more high tech. They've got robots that weld steel, a state-of-the-art paint system, but they still need people to operate and maintain all of that equipment. On the campaign trail, creating manufacturing jobs is one of the first things Trump mentioned in his big economic speeches. But we're here today to talk about how we're going to launch a historic buildup of American manufacturing muscle. So the tariffs and tax cuts and regulation rollbacks, Trump says they're all aimed at sparking a manufacturing renaissance.

1:11It's worth noting that the manufacturing industry has lost around 100 ,000 jobs during Trump's second term so far, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And none of those measures really helps with the big problem facing Steve Presley at Virgo Manufacturing, how to find enough skilled workers. That's where we're really behind the eight ball. Hiring is hard in Arkansas, not for the reasons you might be thinking. Everybody can make fun of Arkansas, say what they want to say, but this is a really strong economy here. And with a strong economy, there's a lot of competition for labor. Especially skilled labor.

1:44Adding to the problem is that here at Virgo and across manufacturing, the workforce is aging. They're losing a lot of collective experience. We've probably had 250 years retire since the first of the year. You don't hear about it as much as the rest of his economic agenda, but Trump does have an idea to address this problem. Consider this. The Trump administration wants to grow apprenticeships to train up skilled workers on the job. The goal is to reach one million active apprentices. So is it doing enough to make this happen? From NPR, I'm Scott Detra.

2:23This message comes from BetterHelp. This International Women's Day, let's celebrate the leaders, the caregivers, the hype friends. With all they handle, women need to care for themselves, and therapy's a great way to do that. Visit BetterHelp.com slash NPR.

2:45It's Consider This from NPR. President Trump is quite famous for offering apprenticeships. You're fired. But mostly they went to the winners of the reality TV show he hosted called The Apprentice. In the real world, his administration does have ambitious goals about generating actual apprenticeships. NPR labor correspondent Andrea Hsu has been digging into them. Hey there.

3:06Andrea Hsu:Hey, Scott. So why apprenticeships? How does this work? Yeah, well, the whole idea behind apprenticeships is you earn while you learn. You don't need to spend a lot of money on a college degree. You can become a highly skilled worker on the job while you're getting paid. And companies can develop exactly the workforce they need. It's a model that administrations going back to at least President Obama have really pushed for as the solution to the skills gap that U.S. employers face. Walk me through an example of where this has worked really well. Yeah, well, here in the U.S., the building trades unions have long used apprenticeships.

3:39Andrea Hsu:They run apprenticeship programs for aspiring plumbers and carpenters and sheet metal workers and electricians. And those apprentices spend a little bit of time in a classroom and a lot of time on the job working under mentors, and they're getting paid while they do it. But outside construction, apprenticeships haven't had widespread appeal in the U.S. That's starting to change. But it's a real contrast to countries like Germany and Switzerland, where apprenticeships are far more common, including in sectors like retail and health care and IT. So one of the Trump administration's goals, and really the goals of previous administrations too, has been to expand this earn-as-you-learn model into many more industries.

4:19What specifically has the administration done so far?

4:23Andrea Hsu:Well, so last April, which was almost a year ago, Trump signed an executive order pledging to reach or surpass one million active apprenticeships. And the Labor Department has been promoting this goal, including on its Instagram page. The new era of American dominance will be forged not by woke universities, but by the grid of our skilled workers. And that got a lot of longtime boosters of apprenticeships excited. But since then, there has been some tempering of that excitement. First of all, Scott, the labor market is not that great right now. Last month, employers shed some 92 ,000 jobs. So that doesn't bode well for apprenticeships.

5:00Andrea Hsu:Also last year, amid all the doge cuts, the Trump administration actually canceled a whole bunch of grants for organizations that were working to grow apprenticeships, including in sectors like clean energy. And here's the other thing. Trump hasn't asked Congress for any more money to support his goal of expanding apprenticeships. Congress has appropriated just$285 million for the cause for the last several years. It's one of those figures that's a lot of money, but is it a lot of money when it comes to a big federal program? Is that enough to achieve these goals? Yeah, well, the Trump administration seems to think so, but not so many others that I spoke with.

5:33Andrea Hsu:Zach Boren at the advocacy group Apprenticeships for America put it this way. I think we're looking at a number that has to start with a B in order to make any progress on apprenticeships in the United States. OK, so billions, B, billions. Yeah, billions. Now, I will say the Trump administration is using some of the money Congress has allocated, around$180 million, to set up these incentive funds to encourage the creation of apprenticeships in a bunch of key sectors like IT, AI, healthcare, defense, manufacturing. The incentives being offered through these funds, it's not a whole lot of money compared to the actual cost of running an apprenticeship.

6:13Andrea Hsu:And, you know, the funds are limited. They're expected to create maybe some 50 ,000 new apprenticeships. So that's not enough to hit Trump's goal of one million. But the administration's hope is that this will jumpstart apprenticeships in new industries. And once companies see the returns on investment, which can be substantial, they'll be hooked. How is all of this playing out at the furniture factory that you visited in Arkansas? Yeah, well, Steve Presley, the general manager, is really excited. You know, Virgo Manufacturing is a great American story. It's a 75-year-old company that's making the classroom desks and chairs and lunch tables that I've seen in my kids' school.

6:47Andrea Hsu:And yet Presley has been worried that he doesn't have the high-skilled workforce he needs to be competitive and to be successful. He actually first heard about apprenticeships not through the federal government, but through a nonprofit in Arkansas called Apprenticely, which helped them set up their first two apprenticeships. And now Presley's working with them to create another 20 apprenticeships, really to build a deeper bench. You know, he is happy about these federal incentives. He stands to get a little over$3 ,000 per apprentice. But what he's way more excited about is just having a plan for the future.

7:20Andrea Hsu:And he says this company has a future that's worth fighting for. In the middle of the summer when we have, say, 20 of these assembly lines running, the radios are cranked up. all you hear are the rivet machines and the screw guns and all that. And it's truly like American manufacturing at its finest. And Scott, he knows that can't happen without the right workers in place. NPR Labor correspondent Andrea Hsu, thank you so much. Thanks for having me. This episode was produced by Connor Donovan and Mia Venkat. It was edited by Patrick Jaron Wadanan and Emily Kopp. Our executive producer is Sammy Yannigan.

7:57Let's consider this from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow.

8:24Taxes and Fees Extra. See Mint Mobile for details.