ZETA Releases Strategic Recommendations for the Reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 20th, 2026

ZETA (Gen‑Z Emerging Technology Action) today released “Strategic Recommendations for the Reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA),” an eight‑page brief outlining how Congress can use the A Stronger Workforce for America Act of 2026 to close urgent talent gaps while preparing Gen Z for an AI‑mediated, tech‑centric economy. The report highlights four critical sectors — health care, nuclear and clean energy, cybersecurity, and broadband/telecom — where projected shortages already threaten access to care, grid reliability, national security, and the timely deployment of digital infrastructure, and argues that federal workforce investments must be refocused on clear, skills‑based pathways into these jobs for opportunity youth, veterans, and mid‑career transitioners.

“For the past two years, we’ve been walking the halls of Congress, sitting down with committee staff, and working across parties to make sure Gen‑Z priorities are heard in every WIOA conversation,” said Jose Ignacio Gaona, CEO of ZETA. “This reauthorization is a once‑in‑a‑generation chance to align federal workforce dollars with real shortages in health care, energy, cybersecurity, and broadband; and to prove to young people that Washington can actually build pathways, not just talk about them.”

The recommendations call for naming these industries as priorities in new Critical Industry Skills Funds and sector partnerships, deploying interoperable Talent Marketplaces built on Learning and Employment Records (LERs), and leveraging community colleges, HBCUs, HSIs, and Tribal colleges to expand diverse pipelines into high‑growth roles. ZETA also urges lawmakers to embed privacy‑preserving technologies and purpose‑centric data governance into Talent Marketplace systems so that digital credentials remain portable and trusted, and to tie funding to concrete outcomes such as vacancy reductions, deployment milestones, and equity gains. Together, these steps would move federal workforce policy from fragmented programs to a coordinated, data‑driven strategy.

About ZETA

ZETA (Gen-Z Emerging Technology Action) is the nation’s leading Gen-Z-centered technology and policy organization. ZETA drives youth perspectives into the highest levels of industry and government, focusing on AI, cybersecurity, energy futures, health technologies, workforce, and broadband to ensure a resilient digital future for all.