⬇️ Inside this issue:

• What the White House is saying about AI + workforce

• Robert answers Reddit’s gripe about digital badges

• Meet Megan, your newest AI hiring manager

• What passports can teach us about interoperability

INTERESTING READS

📚 These marketing certifications are helping professionals boost both skills and salaries.

🌍 Global HR trends reveal where talent strategy is headed in 2025 and beyond.

🛠️ Can the U.S. scale apprenticeships to meet the moment?

📊 The U.S. Chamber Foundation just dropped a must-read report on the new data paradigm powering skills-based talent markets.

POLICY NEWS

What You Might Have Missed This Summer: Washington Finally Gets That AI Needs Actual Humans

Two announcements dropped from Washington this summer that might not have broken the internet, but together they're painting a pretty clear picture: the U.S. isn't just betting on AI infrastructure—it's betting on the people who'll actually make it work.

The AI Action Plan: Building the Machine

The White House's America's AI Action Plan is heavy on semiconductors, data centers, and global competition—the kind of infrastructure talk that makes eyes glaze over. But dig past the tech specs, and there's something more interesting happening.

The plan admits that winning the AI race means "investing in the workforce that will build, operate, and maintain it."

Translation: all those fancy data centers need electricians, HVAC techs, and skilled workers to keep the lights on. It calls for an AI Workforce Research Hub, expanded AI literacy programs, and career pathways tied directly to what employers actually need.

The Talent Strategy: Fixing the System

Meanwhile, the Departments of Labor, Education, and Commerce rolled out America's Talent Strategy, which takes a much more brutal look at workforce development. Their verdict? The college-for-all approach has failed, leaving workers to navigate a fragmented system of programs that fail to deliver on economic mobility.

The strategy calls for measurable outcomes tied to federal funding, a national scorecard to define "credentials of value," and broader adoption of Learning and Employment Records to make skills portable across jobs and states.

Translation: It wants to scale apprenticeships past a million participants and embed stackable credentials everywhere.

The Plot Twist: They're Actually Connected

Here's what makes this interesting for workforce leaders—these aren't competing priorities. Both plans are laser-focused on skills-first thinking, employer-driven training, and accountability based on actual results instead of enrollment numbers.

And the money is real. Think over $3.7 billion through WIOA, $30 billion in Pell Grants now open to short-term programs, and hundreds of millions more through discretionary workforce and apprenticeship investments.

This represents a culture shift where shorter pathways, skills visibility, and public-private alignment actually matter. A labor market where (immediately verifiable) experience and training are available when and where they are needed.

The real test? Whether this produces more than just PDFs and press releases. The scaffolding looks promising, but delivery will depend on how well federal, state, and local efforts align—and whether workers actually feel the shift.

On paper, Washington's left hand (capacity) and right hand (culture) are coming together to give America’s learners and workers a much-needed helping hand. We're watching closely to see what gets built—and who gets recognized along the way.

TECHNOLOGY

Meet Megan: Your AI hiring manager (and new favorite teammate)

Hiring isn’t hard because there’s a talent shortage. It’s hard because your team is stuck managing endless, repetitive tasks that pull focus from what actually matters: finding the right people with the right skills.

That’s where Mega HR comes in—and where Megan, your built-in AI hiring manager, changes everything.

With Mega HR, you can:

• Automatically screen and prioritize candidates based on custom skill criteria

• Offload interview scheduling, reminders, and candidate follow-up

• Get smart, AI-generated summaries after every interview

• See everything at a glance, with color-coded dashboards and no loose ends

Whether you're hiring for a warehouse role or a highly technical position, Megan helps you find qualified candidates faster—based on what they can actually do, not just what their résumé says.

Less ghosting. More clarity. Fewer bottlenecks. Better hires.

👉 Try Mega HR and see what Megan can take off your plate.

CAREER MOBILITY

How to stop your microcredential from becoming digital clutter

Reddit might be one of the last places for authentic discourse, and I love it for exactly that reason. One thread, simply titled "What do badges do?", captures the micro-credential moment perfectly: a mix of sarcasm, cynicism, and cautious pragmatism.

One user managed to distill the last decade of my career into six words: "It's a digital pat on the back."

For many learners, earning a credential is exciting but confusing. What's the point if most employers haven't caught up to skills-first hiring?

Here's the truth: those Reddit comments aren't wrong. Employer adoption is still uneven. As I often tell clients, a micro-credential won't instantly open doors or replace decades of hiring habits. But when used strategically, it can give you a measurable edge, sometimes in ways you don't expect.

Where to Put Your Credential Today

If you've earned a credential, showcase it where employers are actually looking:

Three Ways to Make Your Credential Work Harder

Micro-credentials are straddling two worlds: the emerging culture of skills-first hiring and legacy degree requirements. That tension can be frustrating, but it's also what makes them powerful. They're flexible enough to work inside the old system today while positioning you for the new one that's coming.

The good news? Your micro-credential is more than just a digital pat on the back. It's a signal with real potential, and with the right approach, it can actually work for you in today's job market.

P.S. For our longtime LER champions and Skills Scoop subscribers: this one's perfect to forward to anyone in your orbit who's sitting on a credential wondering "now what?" Sometimes the most helpful thing we can do is share practical next steps alongside the big-picture vision.

WELLNESS

Could sleep be your most underrated skill?

If good sleep were a skill, most of us would be… underqualified.

LAST THING is a clean, natural nighttime supplement that helps you unwind, fall asleep, and stay asleep—without that next-day brain fog. It even includes lutein, an antioxidant that protects against blue light exposure (shoutout to your late-night scrolling habit).

🛌 Formulated to help even the most stubborn sleeper wind down
🧠 Supports cognitive recovery and emotional balance
💡 Includes Lutein, a rare ingredient that protects against blue light
🌿 No groggy hangover or next-day crash

Thania takes this as the literal last thing she does at night: “Even tho it’s a little pricey, it’s worth it! Especially on nights when my brain won’t shut off but my calendar demands I show up sharp in the morning. Unlike other sleepy supplements, this doesn’t leave me groggy or anything in the AM.”

It’s the final thing you do at night—and possibly the smartest upskill you’ll make all day.

👉 Get better rest with LAST THING

WORKFORCE TIME MACHINE

How Passports Became the Gold Standard for Global Identity

In the early 20th century, crossing a border was like playing paperwork roulette—no standard formats, no shared verification, and plenty of delays. After World War I, with massive global displacement and rising geopolitical tensions, the need for a trusted, universal identity system became impossible to ignore.

Enter the 1920 Passport Conference, led by the League of Nations. This global agreement introduced standardized passport formats, aiming to restore trust and simplify movement across borders. Decades later, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) took it further, rolling out machine-readable passports in 1980 and eventually layering in biometric data and encryption to create a globally interoperable identity tool.

What started as a patchwork solution became one of the most trusted and widely adopted verification systems on the planet—built on standards, security, and global cooperation.

Key Drivers of Interoperability

• Standards and protocols: ICAO established global specs for machine-readable and biometric passports.

• Public-private partnerships: Governments worked with tech providers to integrate secure verification technologies.

• Market demand: The explosion of global travel and rising security concerns pushed widespread adoption.

Lessons for LERs

• Build trust through secure, verifiable standards—like biometric passports, but for credentials.

• Create recognizable formats and trust marks that signal credibility.

• Collaborate across borders to ensure LERs support a truly global workforce.

🕰️ Have a historical connection to suggest? Send us your recommendations for how we can learn from history about interoperable innovations, workforce solutions, and other vital education.

BY THE NUMBERS

Young college grads face the toughest job market in decades

In March 2025, the unemployment rate for college graduates aged 22–27 hit 5.8%, compared to an overall rate of 4.2%—the widest gap in more than 30 years (excluding the pandemic spike in 2021).

_{Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York} 

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Open roles

• Senior Program Officer – Connect Strategy @ Ascendium Education Group – (Remote)

• President & CEO @ Washington Retail Association – Olympia, WA

• Group Director, Global People Strategy & Innovation @ Walmart -Bentonville, AR

FOR FUN’SIES

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