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OPA News Release:
Labor Department Focuses On Training American Workers Provides
Businesses With Opportunities To Train Workers For High Skill
Occupations
WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao announced
today a $20 million grant competition for H-1B Technical Skills Partnership
Grants that will train American workers in high skill occupations.
“We need to focus on getting Americans back to work. These grants
are a long-term solution to domestic skill shortages in high skill and high
technology occupations, ” Chao said. “We are assisting businesses by
empowering them to make decisions about what training should be offered, what
outcomes should be achieved and how they should be managed.”
The goal of the training grants is to prepare Americans for high skill
jobs, reducing the long-term dependence on foreign labor. Eligible applicants
generally are partnerships that consist of at least two businesses and may
include any educational, labor, community organization, faith-based
organization or workforce investment board.
Funds for the technical skills training grants come from user fees paid
by employers who recruit high skilled foreign workers under the H-1B visa
program. The fees-for-training plan was authorized by Congress in 1998.
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