Artificial Intelligence
AI-adjacent apprenticeships get a boost in New Jersey
Sen. Andrew Zwicker’s bill would put those jobs inside the state’s GAINS grant program, with startup grants for employers getting funding priority and a floor of at least $100,000 per employer.
New Jersey’s labor commissioner would be directed to treat AI-adjacent occupations as a priority sector under the GAINS apprenticeship program. Employers creating those apprenticeships could get funding priority, along with startup grants that are not capped below $100,000 per employer.
- County community colleges would be encouraged to offer stackable, stand-alone credentials.
- The credentials would be short, with a completion window of roughly four to 18 months.
- AI-adjacent occupations would get priority treatment in the GAINS apprenticeship grant program.
- Employers creating apprenticeship programs in those jobs could get funding priority.
A proposal in New Jersey would push the state’s workforce system toward quicker training for people headed into jobs connected to artificial intelligence. Sen. Andrew Zwicker’s bill would encourage county community colleges to offer short, stackable credentials in fields the State Employment and Training Commission identifies as in demand.
Shorter credentials at community colleges
The idea is to give workers a way to build skills without starting over in a long degree program. Under the bill, county community colleges would be encouraged to offer stand-alone credentials that can be completed in roughly four to 18 months, and the programs could be stacked on top of one another over time.
That setup is meant to fit people who are already working or who need a faster path into a new field. A short credential can serve as a first step, while later training can add more specialized skills as job openings change.
An apprenticeship path for AI-adjacent work
The bill would also direct the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development to treat artificial intelligence-adjacent occupations as priority sectors under the state’s Growing Apprenticeship in Nontraditional Sectors, or GAINS, grant program.
For employers, that could make it easier to build apprenticeship programs around jobs linked to AI. Startup grants for those programs would get funding priority, and the bill says they would not be subject to a per-employer cap lower than $100,000.