Tech giant Meta on Monday announced that it's launching a new academy for workers to receive training in a skilled trade at no cost with a job guaranteed for all graduates.
The parent company of Facebook and Instagram is creating the America's Workforce Academy (AWA) with an initial investment of $115 million in the program's first year. It will start with pilot locations in Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana and Texas this year.
Graduates of the program will receive a National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) credential as well as an America's Workforce Certificate – both of which are designed to travel with the worker across employers and industry sectors.
"The AI revolution is bringing change but also historic opportunities. Skilled workers electrified rural America one pole at a time. They manned the factories that built the arsenal that won World War II. Now a new generation will pour the foundations and lay the fiber that secures American strength in this new age," said Dina Powell McCormick, Meta president and vice-chairman.
