As the nation moves into a strong recovery mode, we know what will drive the new American economy and enhanced incomes, productivity, and inclusion in the workforce: education.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in dramatic advances in online learning and has demonstrated the value of technology, well delivered in all kinds of educational settings. Individuals can gain new skills, degrees, and certifications just as quickly as they are willing to work on them, with well-designed online education.

We also now know:

  • There is great and, too often, untapped talent in the American workforce.
  • Education has proven to be one of our nation’s greatest equalizers, as well as the great engine of productivity.
  • The commitment to a truly inclusive workplace and workforce requires an equally inclusive education and training commitment for all workers and job seekers.
  • We now have the technology, tools, and learning systems to re-skill the nation on a continuing and highly cost-effective basis.
  • America is on the threshold of a new era of economic opportunity and prosperity that can reach all Americans if we plan to execute our re-skilling strategies well. Our nation’s human resources professionals and education systems plan to be at the forefront of the campaign to re-skill America.

Unfortunately, tens of millions of individuals have been affected by the crisis; millions more may be before it is over. The impact of the pandemic, combined with massively accelerated changes in technology, automation, and innovation only begin to suggest the scale of the new education strategies and training systems needed to re-skill the nation’s workforce to meet the needs of employers in the new economy. Concurrently, this is also a crucial moment when demographics and economics call for marshaling all the capabilities and all the talents of all workers by creating a truly inclusive workplace and workforce.

The new American economy will need to draw upon all the talent the nation’s richly diverse population has to offer. Too often the skills of our people go untapped – including individuals with disabilities, people of color, women, veterans, and others who were often marginalized in the past. As we enter the recovery, the economic, educational, health and social impacts of the pandemic, together with the social justice reckoning that has gripped the nation and renewed the urgent push to true equality, present opportunities unlike any other the nation has had since millions of service members returned home after World War II and used the G.I. Bill to greatly enhance their education and the skills that fueled the hugely successful economy of post-war America.

Both the opportunities and the daunting nature of the challenges ahead of us for full re-employment and increased economic success in a highly competitive “new economy” for the full range of the American workforce are clear to us. Our collective experiences in a wide variety of elected and appointed government offices and leadership roles have indicated that the time for action is now.

America has the chance to re-tool its human resources by systematically building the skills of the American workforce through the power of education, supported by technologies that provide learning anywhere, anytime. There are hundreds of thousands of employees who now can gain access to quality workforce education through the companies they work for. A truly inclusive and highly productive workforce of the future will depend in large part on the most effective use of education and training.

Visionary CEOs, education executives and government leaders need to recognize the timing and importance of this opportunity and act to ensure that another generation of talented, but underrepresented, individuals are not left behind.

Ray Mabus is Chairman of InStride. He was the 75th Secretary of the US Navy and the 60th Governor of Mississippi. Johnny Taylor is President and CEO of Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

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