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SHRM E2 Initiative: The Education-To-Employment Pipeline

Fixing America's Leaky, Broken, and Busted Talent Pipeline

The U.S. talent pipeline — from classrooms to careers — is broken, leaky, and busted. Our education and talent development systems are not keeping up with the demands of rapid innovation. The impacts are felt throughout the U.S. workforce and greater economy. Too many students are graduating without the requisite skills they need to get a job, continue to advance in their careers, and close the workforce participation gap. At the same time, millions of skilled individuals remain on the sidelines — overlooked, underutilized, or disconnected from opportunity.

  • Overview
  • About SHRM Advocacy
  • Core Policy Focus
    • Workforce Development
    • Workplace Inclusion
    • Workplace Flexibility & Leave
    • Workplace Immigration
    • Workplace Healthcare
    • Workplace Governance
  • Caregiving
  • E² Initiative
  • More

“Imagine what we could be if we unleashed the power of talent?”

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Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.
SHRM President and CEO



SHRM seeks to be the connective tissue that repairs the workforce pipelines between learning, work, and opportunity. And we’re doing it by increasing awareness, advocacy, and action.

Awareness

Use your voice — backed by SHRM data — to highlight the disconnect between education and workforce readiness, spotlight effective solutions, and share best practices for connecting overlooked talent to in-demand jobs through strategic partnerships and public investment.

Learn More
Advocacy

Stay informed with SHRM’s Policy Briefing and find opportunities to engage with policymakers. Support efforts to expand access to education and upskilling, and elevate your voice through Capitol Hill Days, grassroots campaigns, or community conversations on education-to-employment pathways.

Learn More
Action

Strengthen your community’s talent pipeline by partnering with local schools or workforce boards. Launch or expand work-based learning programs to tap into new talent. Share your success with SHRM to help amplify and scale effective solutions nationwide.

Learn More
SHRM’s Emily M. Dickens Joins NCDA to Spotlight the Education-to-Employment (E²) Initiative

SHRM’s Chief Administrative Officer, Emily M. Dickens, joins Elle O'Flaherty, Co-Chair of NCDA's Government Relations Committee to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the current labor market, focusing on SHRM's Education-to-Employment (E2) Initiative.

Learn More
NCDA Podcast
SHRM's Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. Testifies Before Congress on Workforce Preparedness

SHRM President and CEO Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. began this conversation during the first hearing of the 119th Congress as he testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and posed a powerful question: “Imagine what we could be if we unleashed the power of talent?”

SHRM’s E2 Initiative is tackling the U.S.’s broken, leaky, and busted talent pipeline by connecting education to employment across three key pathways: K-12 education, higher education, and untapped talent. This is a collaborative effort. No one sector, no one stakeholder, no one organization can do this alone. We have to work together — across traditional boundaries — because our challenges are interconnected, and our solutions must be as well.

People do not live, learn, or work in silos — and we can’t afford to operate in them either.

Broken, Leaky and Busted

To build smarter, stronger bridges between the systems that shape our workforce, E² will work to better connect K–12 classrooms to career pathways, align higher education institutions with the evolving job market, and ensure untapped talent has access to inclusive employment opportunities.

Fixing the education-to-employment pipeline requires coordination among all stakeholders. Despite the challenges, our system remains the best in the world. To explore the challenges, opportunities, priorities, and what’s working across each key pipeline, download SHRM’s resource here.

Download Now
illustrated image of professionals working on a leaking pipe

Contact SHRM Government Affairs

We are committed to responding to your inquiries promptly and look forward to connecting with you. Thank you for your interest in our work and your support in shaping the future of work, workers and the workplace.

General Inquiries, Public Policy and Collaboration Opportunities

For general questions, public policy-related inquiries, information about our advocacy efforts, or collaboration opportunities, please contact our team at:
governmentaffairs@shrm.org.

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For members of the media seeking information, interviews or press-related inquiries, please reach out to our media relations team at press@shrm.org.

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