Interested in job training? This DOL official wants you to give him a call.

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ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s rare for a high-ranking federal official to hand out their cell phone number in a public setting. And yet, that’s exactly what Assistant U.S. Labor Secretary Henry Mack did before a crowd of SHRM26 attendees on June 18.

Mack, a former university professor and current head of the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, said he wanted to speak with employers about federal job training funds that could help them and their employees better prepare for a changing labor market.

For example, several federal training and education grants provide funding that Mack said totals between $200 million and $300 million, though he acknowledged that those grants are often accessed by employers via partnerships with state and local workforce boards, community colleges and universities. Mack encouraged HR departments to engage with these stakeholders even if, in his words, they can sometimes be “a pain to work with.”

“There is no reason that bureaucracy should kill innovation and mobility,” Mack said. He also recommended that individual SHRM chapters adopt a local workforce board to help make those entities more responsive to employers’ talent needs. “I need you all to help drive the kind of change we’re advocating for.”