The Governor expanded workforce development programs in the Commonwealth:
Since January 2023, the Department of Labor & Industry’s Apprenticeship and Training Office has registered 254 new apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs and enrolled over 19,500 new apprentices.
Announced a new registered apprenticeship program with the United Mine Workers of America to train workers to plug abandoned oil and gas wells.
- Secured an additional $65 million for workforce development programs in the first two years, marking a more than 50 percent increase and giving more Pennsylvanians the freedom to chart their own course.
- Signed a bipartisan FY2023-24 budget with a $1 million increase for the Manufacturing PA Innovation Program, which connects Pennsylvania’s universities with businesses to spur innovation and job creation in the Commonwealth.
Skills come through training and training needs investment, and that's what our apprenticeship programs do.
- Adam Arditti, Carpenter Apprenticeship Graduate
Governor Shapiro worked with the General Assembly to strengthen critical workforce pipelines:
Created the Child Care Recruitment and Retention program with $25 million to provide nearly 39,000 child care workers in the Commonwealth a $645 bonus.
Secured $21 million to increase wages for 8,500 Direct Care Workers (DCWs) who provide services to adults with physical disabilities and seniors in the participant-directed model.
Delivered $30 million in the FY 2025-26 budget to provide student teachers with stipends of up to $15,000 to strengthen the educator pipeline. In the first year of the program, the Shapiro Administration awarded more than 2,000 student teachers $10,000 stipends.
Signed a FY 2024-25 budget that provided $2 million in first-time state funding for nursing apprenticeships.
Awarded over $40 million to assist nearly 675 professionals within the SUD treatment, prevention, case management, and recovery support services workforce with student loan repayment as an incentive to retain this critical workforce.
Signed the Fair Contracting for Health Care Practitioners Act, which limited noncompete clauses for doctors, nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, and physician assistants.
- Secured $280 million increase in state and federal funding to help raise wages for direct support professionals who provide care for Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities and/or autism, helping reduce the direct support professional vacancy to its lowest in a decade.
Under Governor Shapiro, Pennsylvania workers receive their licenses and business filings quicker than before:
The Shapiro Administration fully implemented multistate licensure compacts that make it easier for doctors, nurses, and physical therapists who are qualified and licensed in other states to practice in the Commonwealth within days.
Reduced processing times of certain business filings from 8 weeks to as little as 1 business day.
The processing time for nursing licenses dropped from 25 days to just six days; doctors’ licenses from 43 days to five days; and pharmacist licenses from 20 days to just one day.
The turnaround time for cosmetology and barbershop licenses dropped from almost 2 weeks to the same day.
- The wait time for new teacher certifications dropped by 10 weeks, down to 2 weeks, and the Commonwealth has seen a steady increase in teacher certificates issued every year.