America needs an AI workforce transition system that connects education to jobs. P-TECH, a 15-year-old public school model, offers a design worth adapting as artificial intelligence changes how work is done across the economy.

The labor challenge created by AI extends beyond the jobs that may disappear. The International Labour Organization estimates that one in four workers worldwide is in an occupation with some exposure to generative AI. Because most occupations still include tasks requiring human participation, the organization’s report concludes that transformation of jobs is the most likely impact.

Many occupations will use AI without losing their need for people. Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce projects shortages through 2032 of 611,000 workers in teaching occupations and 362,000 across nursing occupations. AI will influence those jobs, as well as accounting, law and consulting, but each will continue to depend on judgment, responsibility and human interaction.

The workforce challenge includes preparing people for growing jobs while updating the skills required in occupations that remain. A course can help a worker learn a new tool. A successful transition also requires a recognized credential, workplace experience and a credible route to employment.

I have argued previously that companies should adopt a human-centered approach to AI and help employees learn to use the technology as their jobs change. That remains essential inside large organizations. A broader problem involves young people entering an unsettled labor market, workers who lose a role and communities where employers, schools and colleges operate with little coordination.

P-TECH was created during an earlier period of economic stress . The first school opened in Brooklyn in 2011 through a partnership among New York City’s public school system, the City University of New York and IBM. Students could earn a high school diploma and a cost-free associate degree while gaining mentoring, workplace exposure and paid internship opportunities.

“A big part of the education they receive is in workplace learning, workplace skills and project-based learning where they learn how to solve problems,” Tina Kelley, senior director of engagement and communications at P-TECH Alliance, told me in an interview.

As technology changes, this approach prepares students to adapt rather than training them for one role at one point in time. The model has since expanded across sectors and geographies. Its relevance to AI comes from the connections it built among education, employers and work.

Why An AI Workforce Transition Needs More Than Training

P-TECH brings together a high school, a community college and one or more industry partners. Employers identify the academic, technical and workplace skills required for entry-level positions. Education partners translate those needs into a coordinated curriculum. Students take college courses while completing high school, and gain experience through mentoring, job shadowing and internships.

The combination of academic preparation and workplace skills is the model’s strongest feature. Industry participation keeps the curriculum connected to actual jobs while higher education provides a portable credential. The design also gives graduates priority consideration for available positions, commonly described as being first in line for an interview for any available job.

That commitment is more useful than a general promise that training will improve employability. Workers need to know whether a credential leads to a job, whether the job pays enough to justify the investment of time and whether the skills will remain useful as technology changes.

The model, which started with computer science and computer engineering, can also move with the labor market. Some pathways have extended into nursing, biotech, advanced manufacturing and teaching. These were identified areas for further growth by employers who needed the technical knowledge and qualified candidates with the capacity to keep learning.

“Business partners are offering real-life challenges for students. That enables us to always be up to date,” Kelley said.

Industry partner projects give students practice applying academic knowledge to workplace problems. They also create a direct feedback loop through which employers can communicate changing skill needs to schools and colleges.

An independent evaluation of seven New York City P-TECH schools found that participants were 38 percentage points more likely to have completed an internship during four years of high school. After four years, 46% had enrolled in at least one college course, compared with 20% in the comparison group. Seven years after entering high school, P-TECH students were five percentage points more likely to have completed an associate degree. Colorado’s data point in a similar direction. Statewide National Student Clearinghouse figures show that 57% of P-TECH graduates continue to four-year universities, a notable figure given that many of these students are first-generation, multilingual or economically disadvantaged.

Dr. ShuDon Brown, a P-TECH graduate and, currently, robotic process automation leader at IBM, told me in a statement that "Struggling within and ultimately passing college courses as a young teenager taught me that I was capable, but graduating with my associate's degree at 16 years old gave me confidence.”

The findings do not establish that every P-TECH program produces the same results. Evaluators found variation in implementation and said more evidence was needed on cost-effectiveness and longer-term outcomes. The evaluation still shows that institutions can coordinate a path across secondary education, college and work rather than asking students to navigate each system alone.

Speaking to Kaela Mainsah, vice president of environmental justice at the New York Power Authority, highlighted that “With a statewide footprint, the P-Tech program, and its partners like NYPA can make an impact across New York’s energy sector, turning curriculum into a direct path to employment.”

How To Build An AI Workforce Transition Around Real Jobs

The priority is to strengthen the existing P-TECH pipeline for occupations that will grow or face shortages. Industry partners update skills maps frequently and identify how AI is changing the work. Because they already work directly with schools, employers can introduce new tools, tasks and operating problems through projects and workplace learning before a full curriculum redesign is completed. A health care pathway could combine clinical preparation with the ability to use AI-supported administrative and diagnostic tools. An engineering or manufacturing pathway could add data analysis, automation and cybersecurity while retaining the hands-on knowledge the occupation requires.

P-TECH was designed for students entering the workforce, not for adults displaced from established careers. Its underlying structure could nevertheless be adapted for mid-career transitions. Community colleges could serve as the educational anchor while employers and regional workforce organizations identify occupations with sustained local demand. Programs could combine foundational AI literacy with sector knowledge and the communication, teamwork and judgment needed in the workplace.

The format would have to fit adults who cannot spend several years outside the labor market. Shorter modules could build toward an industry-recognized certificate or degree. Paid projects, apprenticeships and transitional employment could provide experience while participants continue earning income. Childcare, transportation and scheduling support would determine whether many workers could participate.

Employers carry real responsibilities. They help update curricula, provide instructors or mentors, offer work-based learning and give qualified graduates priority consideration for defined roles.

“Industry partners in P-TECH transform education by co-designing curricula that embed professional training directly into rigorous academic coursework. This approach allows students to immediately apply classroom knowledge to real-world technical projects, ensuring mastery of both critical thinking and essential workplace skills,” said Rashid Ferrod Davis, founding principal of the Brooklyn P-TECH school in an interview. “By facilitating mentorship and paid internships, these partnerships bridge the gap between high school, college, and high-wage careers.”

The approach also requires safeguards. Training should produce portable skills and credentials that remain valuable across employers, rather than proficiency in one company’s software or business processes. Programs should report completion, credential attainment, employment and earnings outcomes. Regional leaders should use those results and current labor-market data to improve or discontinue pathways that no longer lead to viable work. Training will also need to operate alongside income support and other protections for workers who cannot make an immediate transition.

P-TECH will not resolve every effect of AI on employment; however, it shows how public education, employers and colleges can share responsibility for preparing people for work. Applying that structure to young people entering the labor market, while adapting its core elements for displaced adults, would give the United States a practical foundation for an AI workforce transition built around jobs that communities and employers need.