America is starting to build The Missing Bridge.

Something important happened in Washington this week. Leaders from education, business, labour and philanthropy launched the Compact for America’s Youth—a national effort to create stronger, more visible pathways from school into meaningful careers. What caught my attention was not simply another announcement about preparing young people for the “future of work.” It was the recognition that young people should not have to navigate that future alone.

And America is not alone. The same realization is emerging independently around the world. Britain is experimenting with direct pathways from AI training into apprenticeships. BRICS countries are calling for stronger connections between education, employment and the skills people will need for the future. And at UNESCO’s Digital Learning Week, which concluded September 11, human agency was placed at the heart of education’s response to AI. Different countries are approaching the challenge differently, but the message is becoming remarkably consistent: preparing people for a rapidly changing world of work requires much stronger bridges between learning, opportunity and meaningful work.

Artificial intelligence is transforming entry-level work. Employers are struggling to find talent. Young people are anxious about their futures. Yet we still too often graduate students and essentially say, "Good luck. Now go figure out where you fit."

That is The Missing Bridge.

For much of my career, I have argued that education and employment cannot remain two separate worlds, with young people expected somehow to make the leap between them. They need opportunities to discover who they are and what they might become. They need meaningful encounters with employers and working adults while they are still in school. They need work-based learning, career conversations, mentors, good labour-market information and multiple pathways into further learning and work. Most importantly, they need career agency—the confidence, competencies and connections to navigate an increasingly unpredictable working life.

America is now bringing educators, employers, unions, philanthropy and workforce organizations together around that challenge. Canada should be paying attention. We have excellent programs in every province. We have talented educators, career professionals, employers, and community organizations doing remarkable work. What we still lack is the connective tissue that turns those good initiatives into infrastructure.

So perhaps the Canadian question is no longer: How do we prepare young people for the future of work? Perhaps it is: Who will bring Canada together to build the bridge between talent and opportunity—and ensure that every young person has a fair chance to cross it?

A nation’s greatest loss is the talent its people never get to use.

AI Acknowledgement: I conceived and wrote this post, with creative and editorial assistance from my partner, ChatGPT.