“The reality is that today, in order to get a decent job, you need some degree or credential or skill or trade past high school. That’s a fact of our economy. You saw the folks that got hurt most during the pandemic were those who were in the lower skill, lower wage jobs,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, former governor of Rhode Island. The submarine builder was a prime venue for Raimondo and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, a former union official and mayor of Boston, to deliver that message, as the company — with a plant in Rhode Island — has hired and trained thousands of employees in recent years for highly technical jobs with good wages. President Biden’s American Jobs Plan proposes a $48 billion investment in workforce development including creating 1 million to 2 million registered apprenticeship slots, Raimondo said. The administration also wants to expand job training programs, and target those who are underrepresented including communities of color and women. The Connecticut Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship Training currently has 6,710 registered apprentices and nearly 1,700 employers that span 50 occupations. Over the past 20 years, 900 apprentices have worked at EB, according to data from the governor’s office.
