Michigan helped more than 225,000 Michiganders find jobs in 2025, strengthening state’s position as national workforce leader

Annual report highlights job placement up nearly 13% from the previous year

LANSING, Mich. — Today, the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) released its 2025 Employment and Training Annual Report, showing how Michigan’s workforce system is connecting people to high quality careers, helping employers fill critical talent needs and strengthening the state’s competitiveness and economy.

Michigan is continuing to set the national standard for workforce development, helping more than 225,000 Michiganders secure jobs in 2025, a nearly 13% increase from the previous year.

“Behind every one of the 225,000 Michiganders who found a job this year is a family with more stability, more security and more opportunity,” said LEO Director Susan Corbin. “These results are about real people being able to pay the bills, support their families and build a future here in Michigan. That’s what a strong workforce system should do and that’s what Michigan is delivering.”

LEO’s Office of Employment and Training works closely with the Michigan Works! network, Adult Education providers, community rehabilitation programs and other partners to offer support and services to individuals and businesses across the state. According to the report, the state’s workforce programs are helping more people find employment in a competitive and challenging job market while expanding access to career training, employment services and workforce opportunities across the state.

The report highlights growing demand for workforce services statewide, with nearly 400,000 individuals served in 2025, an 18% increase from the previous year, as more Michiganders turned to the state’s workforce system for job training, career support and pathways into high-demand industries. New and expanded federal work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid recipients, as well as expanded work search requirements for Unemployment Insurance, are expected to lead to even greater demand for workforce system services in 2026 and beyond.

In addition to noting Michigan provides employment services to more participants than any other Midwest state, the report shows Michigan is a national leader in workforce development outcomes, including:

• #1 in the nation in credential attainment for adults using workforce development services
• #1 in the nation for helping Vocational Rehabilitation customers maintain employment
• #1 in the nation for Vocational Rehabilitation customer median earnings
• #3 in the nation in helping adults who use workforce development services get employed
• #3 in the nation for customized reemployment services
• #4 in the nation for workforce development
• #4 in the nation for the number of active Registered Apprentices
• #4 in the nation in serving migrant and seasonal farm workers
• #4 in the nation for helping unemployed veteran participants secure employment

LEO’s Office of Employment and Training works alongside partners to connect individuals with workforce training, employment opportunities and support services in communities across the state. Employment and Training includes the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons, Michigan Rehabilitation Services and Workforce Development, each of which plays a critical role in building a more inclusive, demand-driven workforce prepared to meet the needs of Michigan’s growing industries.

“We work in close partnership with the Michigan Works! Agencies, Adult Education providers, community rehabilitation programs and many others who are creating pathways to opportunity for hundreds of thousands of Michiganders — our accomplishments are their accomplishments,” said Stephanie Beckhorn, deputy director of LEO’s Office of Employment and Training. “From credentials to apprenticeships to targeted training, we are helping people across Michigan turn training into opportunity, skills into careers and work into long-term economic stability.”

Helping Michiganders with disabilities achieve success

To support Michiganders with disabilities and the businesses that employ them, Employment and Training provides vocational rehabilitation services through the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons and Michigan Rehabilitation Services. In 2025, Michigan led the nation for helping vocational rehabilitation customers maintain employment — and our state’s vocational rehabilitation customers have the highest median earnings in the country.

The Bureau of Services for Blind Persons helps individuals who are blind or visually impaired to define their goals, recommend adaptive equipment or software, and identify appropriate training and services to achieve employment and independence. In addition, they offer the Business Enterprise Program that provides blind persons the opportunity to operate food service businesses in state and federal buildings and rest stops, and the Braille and Talking Book Library, which provides books in braille and audio formats to Michigan residents — specially designed for individuals who are blind, visually impaired or physically unable to hold or read standard print books.

Bureau of Services for Blind Persons’ accomplishments in 2025 include:

• 1,620 individuals served
• 454 Michiganders trained
• 715,100 audiobooks disseminated
• $8.8 million gross sales for Business Enterprise Program operators

Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS), through its statewide network of vocational rehabilitation professionals, develops customized workforce and training solutions for businesses and individuals with disabilities to engage and prepare for employment to achieve economic self-sufficiency. MRS is a part of the Michigan Interagency Transition Team, a state-level, cross-agency collaborative infrastructure that aligns supports and services to ensure a seamless transition for all students with disabilities in the K-12 system (up to age 26) into adult life.

Michigan Rehabilitation Services’ 2025 accomplishments include:

• 45,092 individuals served
• 5,624 businesses served
• 8,707 individuals trained
• 7,664 individuals employed

Supporting workers and businesses in an ever-changing economy

Workforce Development removes barriers and provides support to help people find their first job, their next job or another job and engages employers to help them meet their needs and grow. To accomplish this, Workforce Development supports a demand driven workforce system, assists the structurally unemployed with financial independence, advocates for the integration of workforce development into the K-12 school system, and supports the alignment of workforce development with economic development efforts. Workforce Development includes Adult Education, the Going PRO Talent Fund, Registered Apprenticeships and many other programs.

Workforce Development’s 2025 accomplishments include:

• 351,025 individuals served
• 2,709 businesses served
• 67,580 Michiganders trained
• 217,494 Michiganders employed

LEO’s workforce programs continue to support residents in every region of the state, helping individuals overcome barriers to employment while creating stronger talent pipelines for employers and industries critical to Michigan’s future.

For more information about LEO’s Office of Employment and Training and other resources, visit www.michigan.gov/leo/employment-and-training.

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