# What the Investing in Tomorrow's Workforce Act Actually Does

This bill is designed to help workers whose jobs are being eliminated or changed by new technology—like automation, robots, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing. The core idea is that the federal government should invest more money in training programs to help these workers learn new skills and find different jobs before they lose their current ones.

Right now, the bill identifies a real problem: the U.S. spends very little on worker training compared to other developed countries. According to the bill, America would need to spend about $72 billion more per year just to match what other industrial nations invest in workforce development. The bill also notes that automation is hitting certain groups especially hard—women, people of color, and workers earning less than $40,000 a year are more likely to lose jobs to technology. The COVID-19 pandemic made this worse, with many companies accelerating their plans to replace workers with machines.

To address this, the bill creates a new grant program run by the Department of Labor. Starting in 2024, the government would give money to partnerships between businesses, schools, workforce development boards, and community organizations to run training programs in areas where automation is likely to eliminate jobs. These grants would last up to four years and could fund training in technology skills like coding and cybersecurity, help workers transition to new industries, or even help companies retrain their current employees before laying them off. The bill also prioritizes funding for areas with high numbers of disadvantaged workers and industries most vulnerable to automation. Additionally, the bill expands existing workforce training programs to specifically include people at risk of losing jobs to automation, and it adds $40 million per year to a national program that helps dislocated workers.

Investing in Tomorrow's Workforce Act of 2023

Schneider, Bradley Scott

Investing in Tomorrow's Workforce Act of 2023 This bill directs the Department of Labor to award grants to eligible partnerships to support demonstration and pilot projects relating to the training needs of workers who are, or are likely to become, dislocated workers as a result of automation. Specifically, the bill expands training programs for such workers, including activities that prepare the individuals for occupations in the technology sector, authorizes the award of national dislocated worker grants to provide employment and training assistance to workers affected by advances in automation technology, and expands the funding authorization for national dislocated worker grants.