Members of Midwest Urban Strategies are on the ground every day, supporting employers and jobseekers as they navigate a workforce landscape that is changing faster than ever. This month’s MUS Connector theme, Employer-Driven Workforce Systems, invites us to pause and think differently about how learning, work, and talent development intersect.
When I think about employer-driven workforce systems, my mind immediately goes to apprenticeships and on-the-job training (OJT). I recently heard apprenticeship described as a learning system that leverages the workplace as a living laboratory. That idea has stayed with me because it reframes everything.
Consider traditional classroom-based education: there is an instructor, a curriculum, and students. Apprenticeships follow a similar structure but instead of living in a classroom, the learning happens in factories, hospitals, construction sites, offices, and community organizations. The workplace itself becomes a learning environment. Skills are built in real time, in real conditions, alongside real mentors.
This model represents learning at its best. It eliminates the artificial gap between education and employment because learning happens where work happens. There is no lag between theory and application, no long transition from graduation to productivity. Learners are workers. Workers are learners.
If we begin to fully embrace apprenticeships and OJT not just as training programs, but as learning systems, something shifts. The conversation moves from “placement” to “development,” from “filling jobs” to “growing talent.” Employers are no longer just end-users of talent, they become co-educators and co-designers of learning.
That idea resonates with some timeless wisdom:
“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” — Aristotle
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn.” — Benjamin Franklin
“Learning by doing is the only way I know how to learn.” — Tony Fadell
“Experience is the teacher of all things.” — Julius Caesar
As the workforce system moves toward broader adoption of apprenticeships and OJT, especially with the introduction of Workforce Pell, this way of thinking feels more important than ever. Employer-driven learning systems have the power to strengthen retention, improve productivity, and help businesses grow their own talent in sustainable ways.
There are many paths to learning. When employers help lead those paths, the benefits extend far beyond any single program; to workers, businesses, and entire regions.
As always, we invite you to share your stories. Help us show the world that Workforce Works!!
