During a House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) questioned Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer about helping individuals return to the workforce.
00:07The gentlelady's time has expired, and now I recognize the subcommittee chairman for workforce protections, the gentleman from Pennsylvania as well, Mr. McKenzie.
00:18Well, thank you, Madam Secretary.
00:20I appreciate you being here today and your willingness to answer questions before the committee.
00:24You've been very accessible during your tenure, and we look forward to continuing to work with you.
00:30One question that I would like to ask relates to labor force participation.
00:35It continues to remain below pre-pandemic levels with millions of Americans who are working age dropping out of the workforce during COVID and not yet having returned.
00:46So, what specific steps is the department taking to re-engage these individuals, remove barriers that may be keeping them on the sidelines, and get them back into the workforce?
00:55Well, the goal of the Department of Labor is to be focused on the apprenticeship program through the executive order.
01:00One of the things this administration has asked the Department of Labor to do is to be laser-focused on developing that throughout the country.
01:09Currently, we sit at about 700,000, sometimes give or take 20,000 apprentices.
01:15Since January 20th and the president taking office, we've had about 83,000 apprentices come online.
01:23I think that that's key and a testament to what this administration is doing with the investments and onshoring of manufacturing and construction jobs and transportation jobs.
01:32We've seen the numbers go up every single month.
01:33So, under the Department of Labor, my goal is to be laser-focused on getting out on the road, the America at Work Tour, which I had mentioned before, and then talking to private businesses and public to invest in their workforce on the front line in their respective states.
01:47And then we will assist them in that compliance and registering those apprenticeship programs to grow the entire economy through all sectors.
01:55Well, that's terrific.
01:56I know there are a number of barriers that are stopping people from getting back into the workforce.
02:01One that I would just like to highlight here is working families, two-parent families where both individuals are working.
02:07High costs of child care can certainly be a barrier.
02:11Paid maternity leave is another barrier.
02:14So, want to work on those things.
02:15We have some different legislative ideas, both in the tax space and policy space,
02:19that look forward to hopefully being able to work with you to make sure that working families have the best opportunities to provide for their family and be a part of our workforce.
02:31The next thing that I would like to talk about is a very broad topic relating to our American economy and American workforce, but it's artificial intelligence.
02:42We've held hearings here at this committee and others about the impact that artificial intelligence is going to have, particularly related to the workforce.
02:51I would like to hear your thoughts on what AI means for current workers, for the future economy,
02:58and what we should be doing to prepare for the changes that AI is going to bring.
03:03Again, thank you for addressing that.
03:06Again, another executive order by this administration is not only growing the workforce and the apprenticeship program,
03:14but in line with artificial intelligence.
03:17What we know on the outset is that there are a lot of young American workers who are coming online.
03:23This is native to them.
03:25AI is not going away.
03:27It is something that the trajectory of it has changed dramatically.
03:30I sit on an artificial intelligence subcommittee with Secretary McMahon and Secretary Wright from the Department of Energy.
03:40We just had our first meeting yesterday in regards to that and how we're going to address the future workforce as AI.
03:47It is really running down the same tracks at the exact same time.
03:54One of the fears oftentimes that I hear is, will AI replace my job?
03:59One of the things that we never want to do at the Department of Labor is displace the American worker.
04:05We want to assist the American worker.
04:06And I will be working with Congress and looking to them as they develop their policies in order to protect the American worker.
04:13But how do we modernize again and streamline some of the systems and efficiencies within the business community?
04:20Even at the Department of Labor and understanding what our systems are sometimes archaic and will AI assist us in that so we can be more efficient in our budgeting process or our proposals or our priorities and then assist the American worker along the way.
04:36So as we move through the apprenticeship program and work with our local community colleges and our career and technical education schools, AI will be on the forefront.
04:45And we have to be dedicated through the executive order that we will be focusing on a lot of the investment programs that we do.
04:52We'll be leaning in toward the AI so that we have the trained workforce as we move through the future.
04:57Well, that's terrific.
04:58I'm glad you're going to be involved in the AI transformation.
05:01I think it's a tremendous opportunity.
05:03We want to make sure that that is an American opportunity led by the innovators and entrepreneurs and everybody right here in our country.
05:09And I think it has the opportunity to make American workers that much more productive.
05:14They're already the best in the world, but I think we can do even better if we harness the power of AI.
05:19Well, I couldn't agree with you more because I think that that is really where the urban-rural divide will completely go away because we want to make sure that we're accessing all of the workforce in this AI sector.
05:32And that will be through innovation.
05:34It won't just be the best and the brightest.
05:36Everybody can have access to it, and we'll break down those barriers so that they can attain the American dream.
