The Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda — including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act — are catalyzing public- and private-sector investments across the nation, including significant concentrations in key regions. As part of the Administration’s Investing in America workforce initiatives, the Pittsburgh region was selected as one of five Workforce Hubs in May 2023.

The Pittsburgh Workforce Hub Initiative seeks to build momentum for actions and partnerships that will connect people in the Pittsburgh region to good-quality careers related to major federal and private-sector investments.

This work cannot be done in silos; it requires the engagement and partnership of a wide range of stakeholders to strengthen and promote equitable career pathway opportunities in our targeted sectors:

1. Build and scale meaningful, accessible pathways into union-skilled trades and wealth-building jobs for:
   • system involved /emancipated youth
   • returning citizens
   • single custodial parents/households
   • refugees and immigrants
   • residents of key high/extreme need neighborhoods
2. Create a strong employment pipeline pool of skilled candidates for these existing and new opportunities
3. Ensure that Federal investments in Infrastructure create good jobs for job seekers in our region while driving external transparency in investments.
4. Develop accountability and monitoring tools for local and state-funded projects in the Pittsburgh MSA region
5. Include community engagement and input in the design of the workforce ecosystem, which includes the provision of supportive services
6. Grow the availability and inclusivity of Registered Apprenticeship programs and other earn-and-learn programs in the key sectors
7. Help employers implement Job Quality principles

This initiative seeks to augment and scale the work of a wide range of workforce development partners, including employers, industry associations, unions, community-based organizations, educational institutions, training providers, local and state agencies, and more.

This initiative works to ground itself in Mayor Gainey’s foundation pillars for healthy communities which are safe, welcoming, and thriving in conjunction with the Department of Labor’s Job Quality and worker voice principles. The main goal is to obtain public commitments from labor, employer, community, governmental, and philanthropic partners to

1. Build a regional equity framework (working title “Pittsburgh Good Jobs Principles”) that builds on the Biden-Harris Administration’s Good Jobs Principles
2. Joint implementation to operationalize the Pittsburgh Good Jobs Principles

• Priority recruitment, training, hiring, and retention of disadvantaged worker populations including through partnerships with community-based organizations that have expertise and track records in serving disadvantaged workers
• Implementation of strategies that build equitable pathways for disadvantaged workers into good jobs and careers including:
  • pre-apprenticeship programs with direct entry into registered apprenticeship programs
  • registered apprenticeship programs
  • apprenticeship utilization requirements
  • barrier-reduction strategies such as wrap-around supportive services
  • training that promotes an inclusive and harassment/discrimination-free workplace environment and culture
• Tracking, measurement, and assessment of the progress in recruiting, training, hiring, retaining, and promoting disadvantaged workers through shared compliance, tracking, and reporting strategies and tools
• Embedding the Pittsburgh Good Jobs Principles in procurement and contracting processes to the greatest extent permissible by law
• Creation of an engagement and collaboration committee structure with an inclusive and diverse membership, including representation of organizations that serve disadvantaged workers, to implement the Pittsburgh Good Jobs Principles, as well as jointly address and solve challenges
• Utilization of project labor agreements (PLAs), community benefits agreements (CBAs), and other tools to codify and enforce these Pittsburgh Good Jobs Principles and agreements.

Pittsburgh is a hub for innovation across critical sectors, with strong growth in advanced manufacturing (including robotics and biomanufacturing), broadband, and clean energy (including batteries). Transportation infrastructure, particularly our local, county, state, and federal highway projects, plays a major role in providing well-paying sustainable jobs in our region.

The surrounding region of Southwestern Pennsylvania — a priority Energy Community that includes Pittsburgh — was awarded a Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant to expand the region’s growing robotics cluster and ensure the benefits extend to rural coal-impacted communities in the region. The growth of these industries— along with significant investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in transportation, water infrastructure, and more — will continue to drive significant demand for talent.

The Pittsburgh Workforce Hub will work to secure private-sector and state and local commitments to expand pre-apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship programs, develop or expand career and technical education programs aligned to Investing in America jobs and careers, and provide supportive services that are particularly critical to helping underrepresented students and workers succeed. In addition to student career pathways, our administration prioritizes the inclusion of system-involved youth single custodial parents, returning citizens, and our immigrant and refugee population. By utilizing the Allegheny County Community Need Index, we prioritize workforce development efforts and Hub activities serving residents of high- and extreme-need neighborhoods (see map below).

Labor

Sign onto the Pittsburgh Principles and help build a diverse pipeline of apprentices for skilled union trades. Work to ensure jobs are accessible to and welcoming for all individuals in the workforce.

Employers

Help build your talent pipeline through Registered Apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships, on-the-job training, supporting classroom training, implementing job quality principles (Pittsburgh Principles), and partnering with the public workforce development system to ensure that your jobs are accessible and your employees have the support they need to thrive.

Communities

efforts to recruit members of your community to help ensure that they know about the career pathways being built through the Hub.

Government

Philanthropies

Support efforts to grow and expand access to family-sustaining careers in Pittsburgh, including for underserved workers. Help us connect efforts to provide supportive services, like child care and transportation, to workers and employers participating in the work of the Hub.

Education Institutions and Systems

Scale business-driven training already in place and work with us to ensure that all training programs lead to success in the workplace and have clear business buy-in. Work with this initiative to expand access to programming for individuals facing systemic barriers to employment