National Apprenticeship Week 2024: 10 Years of Celebrating Opportunity, Security and Dignity

Federal funding has created millions of good jobs, providing dignity, security and opportunity for the advancement of America’s workers. Workers can build the skills and experience they need to fill those jobs—especially in high-demand industries such as manufacturing, clean energy and construction—through registered apprenticeship programs (RAPs). This week, during the 10th annual National Apprenticeship Week, the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) is highlighting the value of apprenticeship as well as resources for organizations interested in establishing RAPs.

A proven model for job readiness, RAPs combine classroom instruction with on-the-job training, allowing workers to earn a salary while building technical skills for good jobs with clear paths for career advancement. RAPs also allow businesses of all sizes to build a pipeline of skilled talent trained in the context of their own systems and company culture—a uniquely loyal and long-term employee corps. When designed inclusively, RAPs have another important benefit: They bring new and diverse talent into the workplace, including people with disabilities.

Just ask Adaptive Construction Solutions (ACS), an innovative apprenticeship intermediary in Texas that has been helping apprentices train for careers in clean energy and steel construction for more than 10 years. ACS has successfully made its programs inclusive and accessible to people with disabilities, including disabled veterans. In fact, roughly 20 percent of ACS apprentices self-identify as having a disability—significantly more than the 1.3 percent of apprentices nationwide who identify as disabled and almost triple the goal of 7 percent set in the 2017 Apprenticeship Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) regulation, which required compliance by 2019. 

For inclusion-minded employers who may be interested in implementing their own apprenticeship programs, ODEP offers a wealth of resources. A good place to start: the Partnership on Inclusive Apprenticeship (PIA), a four-year ODEP-funded initiative that concluded in 2024 and resulted in a series of publications focused on various sectors, including clean energy. PIA engaged with industry intermediaries like ACS through dialogue, technical assistance and the development of targeted resources; it also examined state and local policies and employer practices that support inclusive apprenticeship.

While apprenticeships have traditionally been associated with the skilled trades, given their effectiveness, the model is increasingly being adopted by a range of sectors, such as health care, information technology and other high-growth industries. ODEP is committed to identifying and promoting the implementation of inclusive apprenticeship policies and practices to ensure people with disabilities have equal access to all opportunities. 

This National Apprenticeship Week, we are excited to highlight the many advantages of apprenticeship programs—what U.S. Department of Labor Acting Secretary Julie Su calls the superhighway of America’s “opportunity infrastructure”—and pledge to work toward ensuring equal access to all people.