IBM International Business Machines Corp

By Vivian Salama and Vanessa Fuhrmans 

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at spurring new investments for training current and future American workers to help them secure jobs domestically.

More than 15 companies and associations signed a pledge to educate and train American students and workers during a White House ceremony that opened the initiative.

Among them, International Business Machines Corp., FedEx Corp., General Motors Co., Microsoft Corp., Walmart Inc. and Lockheed Martin Corp. are expected to take part, as well as students who will soon enter the workforce, according to Mr. Trump's daughter and adviser, Ivanka Trump. As part of their commitment, those companies will expand apprenticeships, increase on-the-job training, and provide Americans with opportunities to develop new skills to secure stable jobs.

The companies collectively pledged to hire or train more than 3.8 million people over the next five years. Walmart alone committed to hiring one million people, although many of those positions in retail are part-time or low paid.

"Today, we are taking historic steps to ensure that every American has the chance to realize their full-time potential," Mr. Trump said. "These great companies -- and they are great; these are the greatest in the world -- are affirming their commitment to train American workers for American jobs, because America's strength, America's heart, and America's soul is found in our people."

He stressed the need for stimulus programs like this one to help inspire college students entering the workforce.

Ms. Trump said that the aim is to spur hiring by various employers in a range of industries. "That is good for the American worker and will lead to wage increases and will lead to enhanced opportunities. A tight labor market is very good," she told reporters on Wednesday.

The White House said it expected the "Pledge to America's Workers" to lead to more than 500,000 new career opportunities for students and workers.

As part of the executive order, the White House is aiming to create a National Council for the American Worker, comprising senior administration officials, who will develop a nationwide strategy for training workers in industries that have a high workforce potential. The order also calls for the creation of an advisory board made up of leaders from the private sector, educational institutions, philanthropic organizations and state governments.

Spending on education and training in the U.S. is focused almost entirely on people younger than 25 years old and in school, according to a report released this week by the Council of Economic Advisers. Relatively little is spent during a person's working life by employers or the government, potentially leaving them without the ideal skill set for modern jobs, the paper said.

The initiative will address the changes that have occurred over the past few decades to the job market. Nearly one in five working Americans are employed in jobs that didn't exist in 1980, many of which are in technology, the fastest-growing segment across all industries.

Many policy initiatives, including those that make changes to federal workforce programs, would likely require congressional action.

U.S. business leaders have been sounding the alarm for some time about the need to train tens of millions of workers over the next decade, as automation technology displaces or reinvents their jobs. Dozens of major companies from Accenture PLC to IBM have launched their own efforts.

One of the most ambitious efforts is at AT&T Inc., which aims to retrain nearly half of its 250,000 employees for more digital-centric jobs by 2020 after determining six years ago that many of its workers were in positions that probably won't exist in a decade.

Industry groups have been trying to find ways to ramp up such programs.

In a 2017 survey by consulting firm Willis Towers Watson, less than half of the nearly 1,000 companies polled said they were taking steps to prepare their workforces for a more digital economy.

Last month, the Business Roundtable, a group of about 200 chief executives from major U.S. companies, announced its own initiative to work with local colleges and universities to expand "best-in-class" workforce-retraining programs into regional networks.

Write to Vanessa Fuhrmans at vanessa.fuhrmans@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 19, 2018 18:18 ET (22:18 GMT)

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