S. 3319 — Workforce of the Future Act of 2025

This section expresses the sense of Congress that artificial intelligence presents both job disruption risks and workforce preparation opportunities and that Congress must identify (1) necessary data and access to analyze its workforce impacts; (2) most affected industries; (3) opportunities for workers and stakeholders to influence those impacts; (4) characteristics of most affected workers and communities; (5) skills, expertise, and education needed to develop, operate, or work alongside artificial intelligence; and (6) methods to ensure such skills are accessible to all current and future workforce segments.

This section defines nine terms for purposes of the title: (1) artificial intelligence; (2) community college; (3) institution of higher education; (4) labor organization (including public sector employee organizations); (5) local educational agency; (6) minority-serving institution; (7) State educational agency; (8) technical college; and (9) Tribal College or University.

This section directs the Secretaries of Labor, Commerce, and Education to jointly submit to specified House and Senate committees (1) an interim report on artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on the U.S. workforce within 6 months of enactment; (2) a final report within 1 year of enactment; and (3) an updated report within 3 years after the final report. Each report must identify (1) workforce data needs and availability, including privately owned data; (2) industries and occupations with projected AI growth, including effects on worker enhancement or displacement and required education levels; (3) impacts on job quality; (4) opportunities for stakeholders to shape AI's workforce effects; (5) collaborations for education and workforce development in an AI-enabled economy; (6) demographics facing expanded opportunities or displacement risks; (7) needed skills, expertise, and education for AI compared to current workforce levels; (8) delivery methods for such skills; (9) leading industry, education, and labor entities; (10) resources for labor organizations and higher education institutions (including community colleges, technical colleges, minority-serving institutions, and rural-serving institutions) to provide training; (11) demographics and education of training providers; and (12) recommendations to enhance workforce development, including expanding data access, policy options to mitigate negative impacts, and employer best practices for worker engagement on AI integration. The Secretary of Labor may enter a memorandum of understanding with the other Secretaries to establish report preparation procedures.

This section states congressional findings concerning emerging and advanced technologies, including (1) projected growth of 377,500 related jobs per year on average from 2022 to 2032; (2) more than 400,000 unfilled computing and technology jobs as of 2024 and 660,000 new jobs projected by 2032, amid unequal access to relevant education; (3) the increasing workplace need for such skills beyond the technology sector; (4) the critical role of elementary and secondary education in these areas for student success and economic growth; (5) parental demand for technology instruction (90 percent) exceeding availability (44 percent of middle schools and 57.5 percent of high schools); and (6) concentration of the tech industry in few cities due to limited access for low-income, minority, and rural communities.

This section defines 10 terms for purposes of this title: (1) "computational thinking" as creative processes for formulating computer-solvable problems, potentially involving software/hardware design, logic, algorithms, programming, security/privacy, cross-disciplinary applications, and societal impacts; (2) "eligible entity" as a State educational agency, local educational agency, eligible Tribal school, community college, technical college or postsecondary vocational institution, labor organization, State workforce development agency, or institution of higher education; (3) "eligible Tribal school" as a Bureau of Indian Education-operated school, one operated under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, or tribally controlled school; (4) "emerging and advanced technology education" as education in computational thinking, software/hardware design, algorithms, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cloud computing, and related fields; (5) "institution of higher education" as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); (6) "minority-serving institution" as an eligible institution under section 371 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q); (7) "poverty line" as defined in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801); (8) "programming" as hands-on, inquiry-based computational thinking; (9) "Secretary" as the Secretary of Education; and (10) "STEAM" as science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics, including emerging and advanced technology.

This section authorizes the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to eligible entities, including as consortia, for periods of 3 to 5 years to expand emerging and advanced technology education from prekindergarten through high school. From amounts appropriated under subsection (g) and after reservations under subsection (e), the Secretary reserves 50% of remaining funds for grants under subsection (c)—requiring teacher training in emerging and advanced technologies; expanded access to high-quality materials, equipment, broadband, and online options; plans to increase rigorous STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) classes and reduce equity gaps for underrepresented groups (e.g., minorities, girls, low-income youth); additional student supports (e.g., mentoring); and ongoing industry engagement—and 50% for grants under subsection (d). Grantees under subsection (c) may also fund permissible activities such as regional collaborations with industry, workforce boards, higher education, and out-of-school providers; recruitment of teachers and paraprofessionals (as defined in 20 U.S.C. 7801); project sustainability; and dissemination of best practices, with no more than 15% of funds for equipment purchases. Applications must include plans ensuring all high school students served gain access within 5 years; prekindergarten through middle grades (as defined in 20 U.S.C. 7801) progressions preparing for high school courses; STEAM expansion and equity improvements; monitoring and evaluation; post-grant sustainability; industry engagement; and leveraging permissible activities, with award considerations including section 103 reports on barriers for demographic groups.

This section authorizes the Secretary of Labor to award grants to eligible entities, including consortia and with priority to labor organizations, for workforce training programs serving individuals with a high school diploma or equivalent who are employed in or involuntarily separated (within one year before enactment) from industries or occupations with high projected artificial intelligence growth per reports under section 103(b)(2). Grants are for three to five years, funded by $90 million authorized for FY2026 (after reserving up to 2.5% for national activities such as technical assistance), and must support training for high-skill, high-wage jobs or skill updates in advanced technologies. Grant applications must describe project activities, worker engagement, job quality considerations, monitoring, and post-grant sustainability, with an assurance to report performance data matching Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) primary indicators (i.e., percentage in unsubsidized employment in second and fourth quarters after program exit, median second-quarter earnings, recognized postsecondary credential or secondary diploma attainment within one year of exit, measurable skill gains, and effectiveness in serving employers). The Secretary must conduct third-party evaluations assessing program scalability and the impact of worker engagement on training relevance, completion, and employment outcomes.

This section requires each eligible entity receiving a grant under section 203 to submit to the Secretary semiannual reports on grant fund use and individuals served, disaggregated by race (using decennial census categories for Asian and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander individuals), ethnicity, gender, and eligibility for the school lunch program under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); and each entity receiving a grant under section 204 to submit similar reports to the Secretary of Labor, disaggregated by race (using the same census categories), ethnicity, and gender. It further requires the Secretary and Secretary of Labor, not later than five years after the first grant is awarded under this title, to submit to Congress a report analyzing grantee reports with a recommendation on expanding the programs under this title.

This section expands the general duties of the National Center for Education Statistics to require collection and dissemination of statistics (disaggregated by specified population characteristics) on the existence of emerging and advanced technology education in elementary and secondary schools and the degree of competency in emerging and advanced technology fields among such students.