Strengthening the talent pipeline: Policy recommendations and insights for Workforce Development and U.S. Resilience

December 11, 2025

The Challenge: America’s talent shortage

America’s security challenges often focus on equipment, investment, and supply chains, but a deeper issue persists: a shortage of skilled workers. This talent deficit limits the nation’s ability to build, compete, and protect its interests.

• Workforce shortages are rising in sectors critical to resiliency, including manufacturing, AI, and cybersecurity.
• Three-quarters of companies struggle to find qualified talent, and 40 percent of adults lack basic digital skills.
• Technology workforce needs are projected to grow twice as fast as the overall labor market, and manufacturing may require 3.8 million new employees by 2033, with half of those jobs at risk of remaining unfilled.
• Training gaps persist, as energy apprenticeships must increase by 44 percent to meet demand for 200,000 new workers.

Learn about the challenges and solutions shaping America’s workforce—explore the joint report from JPMorganChase’s Center for Geopolitics and PolicyCenter, “Rebuilding America’s Workforce for an Age of Geopolitical Competition.”

JPMorganChase’s Security and Resiliency Initiative (SRI)

To strengthen economic security and resilience, the U.S. must expand and modernize its workforce in these vital industries. JPMorganChase’s $1.5 trillion, 10-year Security and Resiliency Initiative aims to invest in strategic sectors, but without a robust talent pipeline, capital alone cannot deliver results. This is why SRI integrates workforce deeply into its strategy—not as an adjunct program, but as a core driver of national resilience.

Workforce policies to boost security and resiliency in the United States

To address workforce shortages in critical industries, JPMorganChase recommends advancing federal and state policies that cultivate the talent pipeline for industries critical to U.S. security and resilience.

You can find a summary of those recommendation below, and a comprehensive overview in our Workforce Policy Recommendations tear sheet here.

Federal Policy Recommendations

• Strengthen and scale apprenticeships
• Support employer-based training
• Advance industry/sector partnerships
• Support public-private partnerships
• Address the digital skills divide

State Policy Recommendations

• Expand access to work-based learning
• Leverage employer partnerships
• Advance data-driven decision-making

Moving forward

JPMorganChase is working with policymakers, industry leaders, educators, and communities to support these efforts. The stakes are high, the timeline is compressed, and the need is urgent. But with coordinated action, America can build the talent base that its national security—and its future—requires.