President Barack Obama announced that the government will be distributing $600 million to help improve, attract and train new employees. According to Reuters, the majority of the funds will be dispersed among companies searching to fill more technical positions.
The president will designate $500 million to pay for a competition among businesses and community colleges to inspire workers to apply for more jobs in technical fields. Organizations competing for the money will be responsible for creating training initiatives to prepare and train workers for certain jobs in select industries.
The remaining $100 million will support preexisting programs already geared toward training workers, specifically in the fields of information technology, advanced manufacturing and health care.
According to a senior official in the Obama administration, the new funds will help match employees’ skills to the ever-growing advancements in technology in the workplace.
“The pace of change – technology, globalization – has changed the nature of work and the speed at which necessary skills change,” the official said, as quoted by Reuters.
These grant funds will be integral for helping to fill positions the U.S. desperately needs, including those in software development and programming. The source predicted that as companies gain access to these funds, employment may rise along with the new initiatives.